Band members whose sons have joined Dad's band.

Cafe Society
1

I was doing some idle thinking about the groups Led Zeppelin and Van Halen and realized they had something in common. (Hey, I told you I was idle.) Both bands have members whose sons have grown up and become members of Daddy’s group. John Bonham’s son Jason is called to play drums on the rare occasions Led Zeppelin reunites for a one-off performance or even for their recent appearance on Letterman. And Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang has replaced Mike Anthony as the band’s bass player.

Are there any other bands, current or former, in which a member’s son has grown up to become a full member of that group?

  • I know Zep officially broke up in 1980, but Bonham always gets called to take his father’s place on drums. And Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham recently talked about reuniting Zeppelin for a tour and new album, but that project got killed due to lack of interest from Robert Plant. The point is, Jason Bonham may not be Zep’s official drummer, but the band still considers him as one of them. They even jammed together at Jason’s wedding reception.
2

Lena Yester, Jerry Yester’s daughter, was in the Lovin’ Spoonful for a while.

3

Dave Brubeck toured with his sons for a few decades. I don’t know if you would say they joined his band or if it was a totally new group.

4

Willie Nelson’s son Lukas plays guitar and sings with him on occasion.

5

Jim Rodford plays bass for the Zombies and his son plays drums for them.
Jim and his son both joined the group in 1997 but Jim was their roadie for their first ever gig (according to between song chat when I saw them last year on their 50th anniversary tour!) and had played with Argent, among other groups.
Brian Auger currently tours (or did fairly recently) with his son Karma on drums and daughter Savannah on vocals

6

Yes briefly toured with Oliver Wakeman, son of Rick.

7

Not sons, but Derek Trucks is Butch Trucks’ nephew and joined the Allmans. I think Jake Clemons is Clarence’s nephew.

**John Pizzarelli **plays with his dad Bucky - and vice versa. Both guitar monsters.

8

Loretta Lynn’s daughters had a career in their own right and now tour with her singing back-up.

9

For years, Tao Seeger has been performing off and on with his grandfather Pete.

10

David Crosby had a son that was put up for adoption. James Raymond became a musician without ever knowing who his father was. He didn’t find out until he was 31. They have since become close and made albums together and Raymond has played in the CSN touring band.

11

Shawn & Shandon Sahm played with their father Doug, who had various bands going throughout his life. I believe they both backed him on “You’re Gonna Miss Me” from the Roky Erickson tribute album, When the Pyramid Meets the Eye.

Shawn Sahm, had his picture on the Rolling Stone back when that meant something. Last year I saw him lead the newest version of his dad’s group, the Texas Tornados…

12

I have no idea if Dweezil Zappa’s forming Zappa Plays Zappa fits into this category, but they definitely meet the spirit of it, if not the letter.

13

Also, ignoring the sexist nature of the OP’s question, Peter Gabriel’s daughter Melanie has toured with him as a backup singer.

14

Mercer Ellington passed thru Duke’s trumpet section in the 40s, but didn’t leave much of an impression. He later conducted the Ellington memorial band, after several other musicians had done so.

15

Roger Waters’ son Harry Waters toured with him on the recent “The Wall” tour

16

For a long time Edgar Froese’s son Jerome was a member of Tangerine Dream.

French band Ange, led by Christian Décamps, includes his son Tristan.

Ian Anderson’s son James Duncan has occasionally filled in as drummer with Jethro Tull, but was never a full member.

All of these are long-lived bands (formed in the '60s and still extant) with daddy being the only original member remaining.

Does Spirit count? (Ed Cassidy was Randy California’s stepdad.)

17

Zak Starkey played in some of his father (Billy Shears)'s All-Starr Bands. And Amy Helm sang in Levon’s latter-day bands.

18

I thought I remembered that at least one of the Beach Boys’ kids played/toured with the band. Wikipedia’s list of Beach Boys lineups reveals that Matt Jardine and Christian Love have both played with the band. And then there’s the group California Saga, made up of a whole bunch of Beach Boys offspring…

19

Mackenzie Phillips was in The New Mamas and The Papas with her father John.

20

Doc Watson performed and recorded with his son Merle for many years, until Merle’s untimely death. Later Doc performed with his grandson Richard.