It should come as no surprise that being in a rock band is messy business. Egos, money, fame, and creative differences constantly get in the way of being productive, and just getting along in general.

Often times, for one reason or another, band members just don’t work out. It can be pretty difficult to replace an original member and recapture the initial chemistry that everyone had. However, it does occasionally work out for the best. Here are the top 10 replacements that have ever taken place in rock (in no particular order.)

  1. Sammy Hagar replacing David Lee Roth in Van Halen
  2. Brian Johnson replacing Bon Scott in AC/DC
  3. Steve Perry replacing Gregg Rolie in Journey
  4. Kirk Hammet replacing Dave Mustaine in Metallica
  5. Steve Vai replacing Adrian Vandenberg in Whitesnake
  6. David Coverdale replacing Ian Gillian in Deep Purple
  7. Ronnie James Dio replacing Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath (though I prefer Ozzy myself.)
  8. David Gilmour replacing Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd
  9. Ringo Starr replacing Pete Best in The Beatles
  10. Dave Grohl replacing Chad Channing in Nirvana

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