List of bands whose leader is not the lead singer

This is a list of bands whose leader is not the lead singer. Designation as the must be unequivocal, and sourced by an official declaration from the band, or another published source that is uncontested, and . Entries that are conflicted by reliable sources may be listed, but must give due weight to opposing views, and include a source for each opposing claim. Counter-intuitive examples should not be listed without the inclusion of a reliable source for .
This list should not include bands who are self-identified as co-equal, or known to frequently rotate the "center-front" role of the lead singer, throughout the band's tenure. The Beatles illustrate this well; being the "Fab Four" from the beginning, with John Lennon and Paul McCartney in constant rotation as the lead singer, in performances and studio recordings. Groups that are included should show the band's name (blue-linked), after a bullet; followed by the musician's name who is the band's leader, the musicians name who primarily performs center-front as the lead singer, the inclusive time-span when the band performed under such line-up, and an inline citation that verifies the entry. Bands listed must be sufficiently notable to warrant an article on and must be blue-linked to their included content. Individual members should only be red-linked if they are clearly notable enough to warrant a stand alone article.

A
*AC/DC—led by: Angus Young (lead guitarist) and Malcolm Young (rhythm guitarist)—lead singer: Dave Evans, (1973); Bon Scott, (1974-1980); Brian Johnson, (1980-present)
*Aerosmith—led by: Joe Perry (lead guitarist)-lead singer: Steven Tyler, (1970-present)
*Alice in Chains—led by: Jerry Cantrell (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Layne Staley, (1987-2002); William DuVall, (2006-present)
*Alter Bridge—led by: Mark Tremonti (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Myles Kennedy, (2004-present)
*Anthrax—led by: Scott Ian (rhythm guitarist)—lead singer: John Connelly, (1981); Dirk Kennedy, (1981); Jason Rosenfeld, (1981-1982); Tommy Wise, (1982); Neil Turbin, (1982-1984); Matt Fallon, (1984); Joey Belladonna, (1984-1992—2005-2007—2010-present); John Bush, (1992-2005—2009-2010); Dan Nelson, (2007-2009)
*Apocalyptica—led by: Eicca Toppinen (celloist)—lead singer: numerous guest musicians—see: , (1993-present)
*Asking Alexandria—led by: Ben Bruce (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Danny Worsnop, (2008-present)
B
*Bang Camaro—led by: Alex Necochea (rhythm guitarist) and Bryn Bennett (lead guitarist)—lead singer: See list, (2005-2009—2010-present)
*Bonham—led by: Jason Bonham (drummer)—lead singer: Daniel MacMaster, (1989-1992); Marti Frederiksen, (1994); Chas West, (1995-1997)
*Boston—led by: Tom Scholz (lead guitarist)—lead singer: , (1976-present)
C
*CBS Orchestra (Paul Shaffer) (keyboardist)—lead singer: none
*Cheap Trick (Rick Nielsen) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Robin Zander, (1974-present)
*Coverdale/Page (Jimmy Page) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: David Coverdale, (1991-1993)
D
*The Dave Clark Five (Dave Clark) (drummer)—lead singer: Mike Smith, (1958-1970)
*Diamond Head (Brian Tatler) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Sean Harris, (1976-1985, 1990-1994, 2000, 2004); Nick Tart, (2004-present)
*Dream Theater, (John Petrucci) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Chris Collins, (1983); Charlie Dominici, (1987-1989); James LaBrie, (1991-present)
*Drowning Pool (C.J. Pierce) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Dave Williams, (1999-2002); Jason Jones, (2003-2005); Ryan McCombs, (2005-2011); Jasen Moreno (2012-present)
*The Devil Wears Prada (Jeremy Depoyster) (rhythm guitarist)—lead singer: Mike Hranica, (2005-present)
*The Dillinger Escape Plan (Ben Weinman) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Dimitri Minakakis, (1997-2000); Greg Puciato, (2001-present)
*Dir En Grey (Kaoru) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Kyo, (1997-present)
F
*Fall Out Boy (Pete Wentz) (bass guitarist) —lead singer: Patrick Stump, (2001-2009) (on hiatus)
*Five Finger Death Punch (Zoltan Bathory) (rhythm guitarist)—lead singer: Ivan Moody, (2006-present)
*Fleetwood Mac (Mick Fleetwood) (drummer)—lead singer: see list,
*Flyleaf (Sameer Bhattacharya) (lead guitarist) (Since 2012)—lead singer: Lacey Sturm, (2000-2012)(frontwoman until 2012); Kristen May (2012-present)
*Foreigner (Mick Jones) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Lou Gramm, (1976-1990, 1992-2003); Johnny Edwatds, (1990-1992); Chaz West, (2004); Kelly Hansen, (2005-present)
*Fuel (Carl Bell) (lead guitarist) (Until 2010)—lead singer: Brett Scallions, (1993-2006, 2010-present)(frontman since 2010); Toryn Green, (2006-2010)
G
*Gorgoroth (Infernus) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Hat, (1992-1995); Pest, (1995-1997, 2008-2012); Gaahl, (1998-2007); Atterigner, (2012-present)
*Gorillaz (Murdoc Niccals) (bass guitarist)—lead singer: 2D, (1998-present)
*Great Northern (Solon Bixler) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Rachel Stolte (2005-present)
*GZR (Geezer Butler) (bass guitarist)—lead singer: Clark Brown, (1997-present)
H
*Keef Hartley Band—led by: Keef Hartley (drummer)—lead singer: Miller Anderson, (1969-1971) Junior Kerr, Pete Wingfield, Gary Thain, (1972)
I
*Iced Earth—led by: Jon Schaffer (rhythm guitarist)—lead singer: Gene Adam (1989-1990), John Greely (1991), Matt Barlow (1995-2002—2008-2010), (2003-2007), Stu Block (2011-present)
*Iron Maiden—led by: Steve Harris (bassist)—lead singer: Paul Day (1975-1976), Dennis Wilcock (1976-1978), Paul Di'Anno (1978-1981), Bruce Dickinson (1981-1993—1999-present), Blaze Bayley (1994-1999)
J
* The J. Geils Band (J. Geils) (lead guitarist)(Until 2012)—lead singer: Peter Wolf, (1967-1983, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009-Present)
* The Jeff Beck Group (Jeff Beck) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Rod Stewart, (1966-1969); Bobby Tench, (1970-1972)
* Journey (Neal Schon) (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Robert Fleischman, (1977); Steve Perry, (1977-1998); Steve Augeri, (1998-2006); Arnel Pineda (2007-present)
K
* (Tim Rice-Oxley) (keyboardist)
*Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band (Kenny Wayne Shepherd) (lead guitarist)
*The Kills (James Hince) (lead guitarist)
*Killswitch Engage (Adam Dutkiewicz) (lead guitarist)
* (Gene Simmons) (bass guitarist)
*Bob Kuban & the In-Men (Bob Kuban) (drummer)
L
* (Tetsuya) (bassist)
*Linkin Park (Mike Shinoda) (rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist)
*Live (Chad Taylor) (lead guitar) (Since 2010)
*Luna Sea (J) (bassist)
*Lynyrd Skynyrd (Gary Rossington) (lead and rhythm guitarist)
M
*Manic Street Preachers (Richey Edwards) (rhythm guitarist) (Until 1995), (Nicky Wire) (bass guitarist) (Since 1995)
*Manfred Mann's Earth Band (Manfred Mann) (keyboardist)
*Manowar (Joey DeMaio) (bass guitarist)
*The Mars Volta (Omar Rodríguez-López) (lead guitarist)
*Metallica (Lars Ulrich) (drummer)
*Michael Schenker Group (Michael Schenker) (guitarist)
*Montrose (Ronnie Montrose) (lead guitarist)
*Mötley Crüe (Nikki Sixx) (bass guitarist)
N
*Nevermore (Jeff Loomis) (lead guitar)
*Nightwish (Tuomas Holopainen) (keyboardist)
O
*Oasis—led by: Noel Gallagher (lead guitarist)—lead singer: Liam Gallagher (1991-2009)
P
*Paul Revere & the Raiders (Paul Revere) (keyboardist)
*The Panic Channel (Dave Navarro) (lead guitarist)
*Pantera (Dimebag Darrell) (lead guitarist)
*Portishead (Geoff Barrow) (multi instrumentalist)
R
*Rage Against The Machine (Tom Morello) (lead guitarist)
* (Ritchie Blackmore) (lead guitarist)
*Red Hot Chili Peppers () (bass guitarist)
*The Rolling Stones (Keith Richards) (lead and rhythm guitarist)
*Run-D.M.C. (Jam Master Jay) (disc jockey) (Until 2002)
*Rush (Neil Peart) (drummer)
S
*Santana (Carlos Santana) (lead guitarist)
*Michael Schenker Group (Michael Schenker) (lead guitarist)
*Scorpions (Rudolf Schenker) (lead and rhythm guitarist)
*Sepultura (Andreas Kisser) (lead guitarist) (Since 1997)
*The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band (Kenny Wayne Shepherd) (lead guitarist)
*Sixx:A.M. (Nikki Sixx) (bass guitarist)
*Skid Row (Rachel Bolan) (bass guitarist)
* Slash & the Conspirators (Slash) (lead guitarist)
*Slayer (Kerry King) (lead and rhythm guitarist)
*Sunny Day Real Estate (Dan Hoerner) (lead guitarist)
*Supertramp (John Helliwell) (saxophonist)
*Symphony X (Michael Romeo) (lead guitarist)
*System Of A Down (Daron Malakian) (lead guitarist)
T
*Thunder (Luke Morley) (lead guitarist)
*Toto (Steve Lukather) (lead guitarist)
U
*Underoath (Aaron Gillespie) (drummer) (Until 2010)
V
*Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen) (lead guitarist)
*Velvet Revolver (Slash) (lead guitarist) (Since 2008)
W
*The Who (Pete Townshend) (lead guitarist)
X
*X Japan—led by: Yoshiki (drummer)—lead singer: See list, (1982-1997—2007-present)
Y
*Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force (Yngwie Malmsteen) (lead guitarist)
Z
*Zappa Plays Zappa (Dweezil Zappa) (lead guitarist)

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu