In the high-stakes gamble of rock ‘n’ roll, timing is everything.
For every legendary frontman basking in the glow of a sold-out stadium, there is often a 'forgotten' member who helped lay the foundation, only to walk away just as the mortar was setting. Whether driven by creative friction, health struggles, or a simple desire for a quiet life, these musicians exited stage left moments before their bandmates ascended to icon status.
This list explores the sliding-door moments of rock history – the guitarists and drummers who traded superstardom for obscurity. From Pete Best’s heartbreak in Liverpool to Anthony Phillips’ quiet departure from Genesis, these stories serve as poignant reminders of how thin the line is between household name and musical footnote. We look at the 'nearly-famous' who just missed out on the jet engine blast of fame, featuring Bob Welch, Syd Barrett, and others who left the party right before it truly started.
1. Anthony Phillips (Genesis)
Anthony Phillips was the heart of Genesis during their formative years, acting as their primary songwriter and acoustic architect. He played a defining role on the band's first two albums, including the 1970 folk-prog masterpiece Trespass. However, Phillips struggled with severe stage fright and the physical toll of a bout of pneumonia, leading him to quit the group that same year.
His departure was a pivotal 'sliding doors' moment in rock history. While his exit nearly broke the band, it forced them to recruit Phil Collins and Steve Hackett, sparking their evolution into global superstars. While Genesis filled stadiums, Phillips pursued a quiet, scholarly life in music, releasing the acclaimed solo debut The Geese & the Ghost and becoming a prolific composer of library music and ambient guitar suites.
2. Dave Mustaine (Metallica)
Fired by his Metallica bandmates just before they recorded their debut album Kill ’Em All – and a few years before the wildly successful Master of Puppets (one of rock music's legendary third albums), Dave Mustaine missed out on Metallica’s rise to fame as global metal icons. He was handed his marching orders in 1983, after several drunken altercations with his bandmates, drug abuse and aggressive behaviour.
It wasn’t all bad though, as Mustaine went on to form Megadeth, and enjoyed significant success with that band. But the sting from the Metallica eviction fuelled decades of rivalry. We named Dave Mustaine's dismissal from Metallica as one of rock music's most infamous firings.
3. Pete Best (The Beatles)
Pete Best is the ultimate "nearly-famous" tragedy, serving as the Beatles' drummer from 1960 until his dismissal in August 1962 – just weeks before they recorded their first hit, "Love Me Do." While the band’s popularity exploded globally, Best was left behind in Liverpool.
The reason for his firing remains a mix of professional and personal friction. Producer George Martin was famously dissatisfied with Best's drumming technique, preferring a session musician for recordings. Additionally, Best was often seen as an outsider who didn't share the other members' wit or sense of camaraderie. While fans often speculated that Paul McCartney was jealous of Best’s 'movie star' looks and popularity with female fans, the primary drivers were musical compatibility and the group's desire for a more cohesive personality, which they found in Ringo Starr.
You can hear Pete's drumming on a number of early Beatles recordings, including 'Besame Mucho' played at the audition for Decca Records on 1 January 1962. The Beatles were, famously, rejected by Decca:
4. Henry Padovani (The Police)
The Police’s original guitarist was replaced by Andy Summers, who had originally been part of the band as second guitarist. Padovani left just before the band broke internationally with ‘Roxanne’, which helped cement their legendary status. He was let go by Sting, who wasn’t content with his technical abilities, and instead recruited Andy Summers for the sole guitar spot.
Leaving the band didn’t halt Padovani’s career – he joined Wayne County & the Electric Chairs, who The Police had supported in 1977. The Italian guitarist joined The Police again on stage for the final encore of their show in Paris during the 2007 reunion tour.
5. Jason Everman (Nirvana)
Jason Everman joined Nirvana in 1989 as second guitarist to record Bleach, but he didn’t play on any of the tracks. He appeared on the cover and helped record the album, touring with the band thereafter – but Nirvana fired him after the tour ended, supposedly due to his moodiness. He didn’t fit in with the band, their personalities and stage presences all too different. The band continued as a trio, but there was another personnel change the following year, when drummer Chad Channing was replaced by Dave Grohl.
Everman went on to join Soundgarden later in 1989, but he was again a short-lived member, fired the following year before the band reached their commercial peak. He then formed Mind Funk with several other musicians from other bands, but left a few years later to join the US Army.
6. Bob Welch (Fleetwood Mac)
Bob Welch was part of Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974, but during this time, he was experiencing burnout and marriage difficulties, and was also having creative challenges with the rest of the band. He was replaced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, whose arrival injected new commercial momentum into the band’s career.
Welch missed out on the era that brought Rumours, which has become one of the biggest albums of all time. Though he enjoyed a successful solo career after he left Fleetwood Mac, but relations with the band became acrimonious – suing them for breach of contract related to the underpayment of royalties.
Here's 'Hypnotized' from 1973's Mystery to Me, one of Welch's greatest contributions to the band:
7. Dennis Stratton (Iron Maiden)
The line-up of Iron Maiden in its early years was highly changeable, with members coming and going as the band found its sound. One of these musicians was guitarist Dennis Stratton, who joined the band in 1979 and performed on their 1980 self-titled debut album, which debuted at No. 4 in the UK Albums chart. The band then supported Kiss on the European leg of their Unmasked tour, but Stratton was fired shortly after this, with the band citing ‘musical differences’.
He has since suggested that his preference for ‘easy listening’ music and bands like Queen and The Eagles over heavy metal led to friction with the rest of the band.
8. John Rutsey (Rush)
A founding member and original drummer of Rush, John Rutsey performed on the band’s 1974 debut album and was a pivotal part of the band’s early success, encouraging its direction and rehearsal schedule. He left shortly after the release of the debut album due to health problems relating to his diabetes and a dislike of touring.
Rutsey was also challenged by the band's shift in sound, as he preferred a more straightforward rock style, while singer Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson were moving towards a more prog rock sound. Drummer Neil Peart replaced him, and the band soon headed towards prog rock legend status.
9. Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd)
One of rock music’s most tragic exits, Syd Barrett’s departure from Pink Floyd came as a result of his LSD abuse and mental health issues. The band had grown tired of his behaviour, particularly during live performances where he was unreliable and sometimes failed to appear entirely. In 1968, Roger Waters was driving the band to a show in Southampton. When it came time to pick Syd up, someone from the band simply responded, ‘Let’s not bother’.
Barrett had written most of the band’s material at this stage, and the plan was to keep him on as a non-touring member, but even that proved to be untenable. He then pursued a brief solo career, releasing two solo albums within a year. In 1975, Barrett arrived at Pink Floyd’s studio in one of rock music’s most haunting, surreal moments. He then retreated from the public eye entirely, before dying in 2006 from pancreatic cancer.
He will be forever be fondly remembered for the madcap psychedelic whimsy he brought to early Floyd classics such as 'Flaming':
10. John Curulewski (Styx)
The tale of Styx's founding guitarist remains one of rock’s most poignant 'what if' stories. A versatile musician who favored the band’s early progressive and folk-inflected sound, Curulewski played on the band's first five albums. However, he grew weary of the gruelling tour cycle and craved more time with his family.
In 1975, just after the release of Equinox, Curulewski made the fateful decision to leave the group. In a stroke of historical irony, his departure occurred mere moments before Styx skyrocketed to international superstardom. His replacement, Tommy Shaw, provided the pop sensibility and rock star persona that helped define their multi-platinum era.
While his former bandmates became household names filling stadiums, Curulewski transitioned into teaching and session work. He remains a cult figure for purists who cherish the raw, experimental roots of 1970s arena rock.
To hear the bridge between the John Curulewski era and the superstardom that followed, listen to 'Lady' from the 1973 album Styx II. It is the song that essentially saved the band’s career. Although it was released years earlier, it became a delayed smash hit in 1975, just as Curulewski was preparing to depart. It features the classic Styx blueprint: a delicate, classical-style piano opening that explodes into a high-energy power ballad.
11. Doug Sandom (The Who)
The writing was probably on the wall for drummer Doug Sandom, who joined The Who when he was a bricklayer in his thirties, and the rest of the band were in their late teens. The age difference made for a problematic dynamic, and Sandom’s wife also found his late-night practices difficult. The stylistic mismatch was at the heart of the decision by the band’s then-manager, Helmut Gordon, and lead guitarist Pete Townshend to ask Sandom to leave the band. The charismatic Keith Moon was hired shortly after Sandom’s departure, and the rest really is rock history.
12. Dave Evans (AC/DC)
AC/DC’s original lead singer Dave Evans didn’t last long. Just under a year, to be precise: from November 1973 to September 1974, at which point he was replaced by Bon Scott, who remained as the band’s lead singer until his death in 1980. AC/DC’s manager Michael Browning wrote about Dave Evans’s eviction from the band in his memoir Dog Eat Dog:
‘No disrespect to Dave, but they wouldn’t have made it with him as singer. He could sing OK, but he didn’t have the character Bon brought into the band. The character, the sense of humour, the swagger. They were never going to go as far as they went with Dave out front. Bon was the real deal.’
Evans left before AC/DC’s defining era, moving onto another Australian rock band, Rabbit, who never reached the dizzy heights of AC/DC but were a popular live act in the Sydney music scene.
13. Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols)
Credited as a songwriter on ten of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols’ only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, bassist Glen Matlock left the band early in the recording process. He might have been involved in the early songwriting, but he’s only credited as a bassist and backing vocalist on one song on the album: ‘Anarchy in the UK’.
He left the Sex Pistols in February 1977, replaced by one Sid Vicious. The band’s manager announced that Matlock had been ‘thrown out of the band’ because ‘he liked The Beatles’. The truth is that tensions between Matlock and lead singer Johnny Rotten were high, and manager Malcolm McLaren was supposedly encouraging chaos within the band to create a nihilistic punk image.
Vicious was a fan of the band and was in their wider circle, attending all their gigs and creating chaos and drama around them. The band’s debut album was released in October of that year – and exploded.
After the Sex Pistols, Matlock remained in the music industry, forming other bands such as Rich Kids. Then, after the death of Vicious, Matlock returned to the band for subsequent Sex Pistols reunions and performances.
14. Izzy Stradlin (Guns N' Roses)
We end with someone who legendarily walked away at the height of a band's fame.
Guns N' Roses co-founder and rhythm guitarist, Izzy Stradlin was childhood friends with Axl Rose, and formed the band with him and members of LA Guns, another American hard rock band. Stradlin was a key part of the band’s early evolution, but tensions grew within the band, particularly due to guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler’s drug use and Axl Rose’s diva behaviour.
Stradlin became disenchanted with life in the band, particularly after he got sober and began to find the band’s drug-fuelled life wearing. He also supposedly took issue with an amendment to his contract, which would have meant a cut to his royalties.
After calling it quits in 1991, Stradlin rejoined a couple of times thereafter, rejoining the band for several shows in 1993, again in 2006 and a few times in more recent years. He is still a firm part of the band’s history, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of the classic line-up of Guns N’ Roses.
All images: Getty
