Five Musicians Who Quit Just Before Their Bands Made It

Walking away from a struggling band can seem perfectly sensible. There are endless gigs, little money and no guarantee that success will ever arrive. But for these five musicians, something extraordinary happened after they left: the bands they walked away from became hugely successful.

None of them could have known what was coming. In several cases, leaving was probably the right decision at the time.

Doug Sandom — The Who

In early Nineteen Sixty-Four, the Who were still trying to establish themselves. They had no hit records and no guarantee of a successful career.

Their drummer, Doug Sandom, was older than Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle. He was married and had responsibilities outside the band. Following tensions around an unsuccessful audition for Fontana Records, Sandom decided to leave.

Not long afterwards, seventeen-year-old Keith Moon arrived. His explosive drumming became a defining part of the Who, and by early Nineteen Sixty-Five, I Can’t Explain had given the band their first British Top Ten hit.

Sandom had left only months before everything began to change.

Anthony Phillips — Genesis

Anthony Phillips was a founding member of Genesis and helped shape their early sound alongside Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel.

But there was a problem. Phillips found performing live increasingly difficult, and as Genesis became more serious about touring, the pressure grew. In Nineteen Seventy, before the band had achieved significant commercial success, he left.

Genesis considered whether they should even continue without him.

They did. Phil Collins joined as drummer, Steve Hackett followed on guitar, and the classic Peter Gabriel-era line-up was complete. Genesis gradually built a devoted following before becoming one of the world’s biggest bands during the following decade.

Phillips, meanwhile, continued making music away from the pressures of being in a major touring group.

Bob Welch — Fleetwood Mac

Bob Welch didn’t simply play in Fleetwood Mac during the early Seventies. He helped keep the band alive during one of the most chaotic periods in its history.

Welch wrote and sang songs including Hypnotized and Sentimental Lady, but years of touring, personnel changes and disputes eventually took their toll. In December Nineteen Seventy-Four, he quit.

The timing was remarkable.

Soon afterwards, Mick Fleetwood approached guitarist Lindsey Buckingham about joining the band. Buckingham agreed on the condition that Stevie Nicks joined too.

The new line-up released Fleetwood Mac in Nineteen Seventy-Five. It eventually reached number one in America. Then came Rumours.

Welch had helped Fleetwood Mac survive the difficult years, only to leave immediately before their greatest period of success.

Stephen Duffy — Duran Duran

Before Simon Le Bon, Duran Duran had Stephen Duffy.

Duffy was involved in the band’s beginnings in Birmingham in Nineteen Seventy-Eight alongside Nick Rhodes and John Taylor. At that stage, there was no record deal, no hit single and no reason to believe international stardom was inevitable.

Duffy left in Nineteen Seventy-Nine.

Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor subsequently joined, followed by Simon Le Bon in Nineteen Eighty. Within a few years, Duran Duran had become one of the defining bands of the Eighties.

Duffy still enjoyed considerable success of his own, including the hit Kiss Me, but his departure remains a remarkable example of just how quickly a band’s fortunes can change.

Stuart Sutcliffe — The Beatles

Stuart Sutcliffe’s story was different.

In Nineteen Sixty-One, the Beatles were still playing marathon club performances in Hamburg. Sutcliffe was their bass player, but music wasn’t his greatest passion. He was a talented artist who had studied with John Lennon at Liverpool College of Art.

After falling in love with German photographer Astrid Kirchherr, Sutcliffe faced a choice: continue pursuing music with his friends or remain in Hamburg and concentrate on art.

He chose art.

At the time, the decision wasn’t nearly as extraordinary as it appears today. The Beatles hadn’t yet secured the EMI and Parlophone deal that would launch their British recording career. There was no Love Me Do, no Beatlemania and no American breakthrough.

Sutcliffe had no way of knowing that the group he was leaving would soon become the most famous band in the world.

And unlike everyone else on this list, he would never discover what happened next.

 

Watch the full documentary above for the complete stories behind all five departures.