Musicians That Legendary Rock Bands Tried To Erase In Their Image

Musicians That Legendary Rock Bands Tried To Erase In Their Image | Society Of Rock Videos

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Joining a legendary group is more than exciting, it’s also one of the sure-fire ways of going from unknown to full-fledged rockstar. There have been several bands whose new addition achieved massive success and was propelled to superstardom. But that’s not the case for everyone. Some members were treated like they didn’t exist and have been largely forgotten. There were also those who didn’t get the credit they deserved.

Let’s check them out:

1. Michael Anthony (Van Halen)

Michael Anthony was Van Halen’s original bassist. He played with them from 1974 to 2006, and he appeared on the band’s first 11 albums. So imagine everyone’s surprise when he was edited out from the album outwork on Van Halen’s official website. Another group photo with Anthony was also removed.

“That bummed me out quite a bit,” Anthony admitted to Rolling Stone. “I’m proud of all my history with Van Halen, and maybe they feel otherwise.”

2. Darryl Jones (Rolling Stones)

Darryl Jones has been the Rolling Stones bassist since 1993 as the replacement of Bill Wyman. However, Jones was never in the official photos of the band, and he hasn’t appeared in their music videos. In a 2016 feature, he was even dubbed by BBC as “the unknown Stone”.

“In terms of the membership of this very small and exclusive club I guess I’ll always be like the new guy,” he told BBC. “In terms of playing with the band, though, I feel like a bit of an old hand now.”

3. Bill Ward (Black Sabbath)

Black Sabbath’s original drummer, Bill Ward became a household name following the band’s massive success in the ’70s. But just because they’ve been together for decades didn’t mean they didn’t have fights. Ward left Black Sabbath in 2012 because of alleged physical and contractual issues.

He was then removed from the photos in their official website and its galleries. Interestingly, it was Ward himself who made the request. The band issued a statement to explain that Ward’s attorney requested it “so as to not give the public the wrong impression about his involvement in the current Black Sabbath lineup.”

4. John Corabi (Mötley Crüe)

John Corabi replaced Vince Neil as Mötley Crüe’s singer and frontman in 1992. Neil came back in 1997, but after Corabi’s departure, most members pretended that phase with Corabi never happened. They never even played their recordings with Corabi in concert.

5. Don Felder (Eagles)

Don Felder joined the Eagles in 1974 as their lead guitarist and was fired in 2001. He has filed multiple lawsuits against his former bandmates after. In a 2008 interview, he admitted that he was still in contact with Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner, but that he only communicated with Don Henley and Glenn Frey through his attorneys.

6. Jimmy Crespo (Aerosmith)

Jimmy Crespo was Aerosmith’s lead guitarist from 1979 until 1984. He even co-wrote a couple of songs with Steven Tyler. During the recording of “Rock in a Hard Place”, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford left the band. Now Aerosmith is treating the LP like it doesn’t exist.

“There’s some real good stuff on it,” drummer Joey Kramer once said. “But it’s not a real Aerosmith record, because it’s just me, [singer] Steven [Tyler] and [bassist] Tom [Hamilton] – with a fill-in guitar player.”

7. Peter Criss (KISS)

Peter Criss was a co-founding member and the original drummer of KISS. He sang lead on several of their songs, and he even co-wrote their breakthrough hit “Beth”. He left in 1980. Accounts vary about his departure – he claimed he quit the band while Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley said they fired him.

Following the split, KISS had Eric Carr replace him and re-record his drum parts.

8. Mitch Malloy (Van Halen)

After Sammy Hagar’s departure, Mitch Malloy auditioned as his replacement. This was before Gary Cherone got the part. Eddie Van Halen called Malloy to tell him he got the gig. And then, Van Halen was invited to appear on MTV. Malloy didn’t know David Lee Roth would perform with the band until he saw it on TV.

“That moment that Roth walked out behind them, I knew it was over. I am not going to be in Van Halen,” Malloy told Rolling Stone. “I just knew somehow. And so that was it for me. I was just like, ‘That’s it. This can’t happen now.’ I just knew it.”

EVH apologized to him about it, but Malloy already had his manager inform them he’s passing up the gig.

9. Patrick Moraz (Moody Blues)

Patrick Moraz was with The Moody Blues from 1978 to 1991. During his tenure, he claimed The Moody Blues didn’t want to use his compositions. He was fired and he sued the band in return for royalties. But despite being with the group for 13 years, his former bandmates maintained that he was only a hired musician even though he was listed as a member in their albums, official photographs, and other promotional materials.

10. Jeff Scott Soto (Journey)

He was Journey’s lead vocalist for a short time. He replaced replaced Steve Augeri but was fired six months later. Journey has never mentioned Soto since.

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