Although the vocalist is typically viewed as the leader of the group, there are some huge bands whose leader is not their lead singer.
The singer of a band is the one in the spotlight because they’re usually front and center onstage and in photos (unless you’re Maynard James Keenan). The vocals tend to be what completes a musical group’s sound and makes it more identifiable.
Think of some of the most legendary bands — Mick Jagger has been commanding The Rolling Stones’ ship since the ’60s, James Hetfield is the focal point of Metallica and Axl Rose has kept Guns N’ Roses afloat even when he was the only original member left.
That surprisingly isn’t the case with a lot of other very notable bands though, many of which are led by an instrumentalist that acts as the glue of the group that writes most of the music and makes most of the creative decisions.
READ MORE: 10 Huge Rock + Metal Bands Whose Singer Isn’t Their Primary Lyricist
Plenty of these bands have a sound that isn’t just unique because of their vocalist and have actually played with multiple singers due to various reasons, whether it was a tragedy or a split. Throughout the lineup changes, they managed to maintain their identity and find success, even if it wasn’t as great as with their original singers.
We compiled a gallery of bands whose leader is someone other than their singer, first touching on the band’s structure a bit and then revealing who we think the true chief is.
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Huge Rock + Metal Bands Whose Leader Is NOT Their Lead Singer
The singer of a band tends to be the focal point, but in these bands, the real leader behind the scenes is someone other than the vocalist.
Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
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