13 Awesome Rock + Metal Bands With No Original Members Left

If a band has no original members left, does it really matter? In the case of these 13 rock and metal bands, the answer is a resounding, "NO!"

Let's get this straight — this does not make the original members irrelevant. After all, they're the ones who established a musical direction for future members to run with.

Each band here comes with their own unique set of circumstances. For Sepultura, this stigma shouldn't even really apply since bassist Paulo Jr. has been in the band since 1984, the very year the Brazilian thrash unit was formed. He wasn't the original bassist, but that's just semantics. And besides, Andreas Kisser has been there since the second album as Sepultura gradually molded their sound into the style were regard as classic today.

GWAR could go on for another 200 years and that would be just fine — it's about the only thing that makes us think we might want to live forever.

For some bands, their early sound wasn't indicative of the style that would rocket them to global superstars. Even before Frankie Banali's death, Quiet Riot had long been devoid of any original members, but he was there through the band's biggest moments and was a major contributor to their arena-ready sound. So what if he wasn't there from the beginning? Frankie Banali was synonymous with Quiet Riot and, at his request, the band is still going.

To continue without any original members may seem peculiar, but if we're going to boast about how there's no rules in rock and metal, it'd be silly to condemn a band for doing so much as to keep making music.