Known musicians who joined multiple established bands

Cafe Society
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There are plenty of examples of musicians who have achieved some success, either solo or in a band, then later on joined some other established band:

Bill Bruford started out with Yes, then later joined King Crimson, an already-known entity
Ronnie James Dio rose to fame in Rainbow, then later joined Black Sabbath
Sammy Hagar became known via Montrose, and later joined Van Halen

There are many more examples. But what musicians have become known, and then during the course of their career, joined two or more already established bands?

Going solo, forming a new band, or forming a supergroup with other known musicians, is not what I’m looking for. I’m interested in musicians who have joined up with bands that were already in existence, and had some measure of success. An “established” band can’t really be well-defined, I know. I’m thinking of bands that have at least put out an album, and have had some success outside their home city.

After King Crimson dissolved in the mid-70s, Bruford and John Wetton joined up with Alan Holdsworth and Eddie Jobson and formed the band UK. Later still, he formed a couple of his own bands. These do not qualify as joining an established band. I suppose an argument could be made that he “joined” Genesis at one point, for a short time, but he was a touring member only, and appeared on very few released live recordings.

Dio started out in Elf before joining Rainbow. But Rainbow doesn’t count, because he was an original member of the band when Ritchie Blackmore formed it. After Black Sabbath, Dio formed his own band. Regardless of where Dio actually got his start, the only established band he joined after becoming famous was Black Sabbath. (Don’t tell me about Heaven and Hell, it’s the same band. :p)

Sammy Hagar went solo after Montrose… doesn’t count. Formed the supergroup HSAS with other musicians… doesn’t count. Formed the supergroup Chickenfoot with other musicians… doesn’t count.

So… who has joined two or more established bands over the course of their career? Maybe we can figure out who “wins,” having joined the most bands.

To start things off, my contribution is Steve Morse.

Morse got started with the Dixie Dregs. In the '80s, he joined Kansas for a couple of albums. In the '90s, he joined Deep Purple, and is with them to this day.

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Keyboardist Patrick Moraz had been in various jazz and prog-rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as doing other things (including film scores), before joining Yes for one album (Relayer, 1974), then joining the Moody Blues in 1978, and playing on four albums.

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Steve Vai played and recorded with Frank Zappa, Whitesnake and David Lee Roth before finally going solo.

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Adrian Belew has a long list of established artists that he’s joined.

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Johnny Marr has also joined many of the bands that he has collaborated with, even if it is only temporarily.

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I think drummer Aynsley Dunbar might be the champion here. Let’s see:

[ul][li]His first hit-making band was The Mojos, who had a few hits in the UK[/li][li] Auditioned for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, lost a coin flip to Mitch Mitchell[/li][li] Played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers’ for an album[/li][li] Played with The Jeff Beck Group for a month or two[/li][li] Invited to join King Crimson by Robert Fripp[/li][li] Joined The Mothers of Invention[/li][li] Joined Journey[/li][li] Joined Jefferson Starship[/li][li] Joined Whitesnake[/li][/ul]

Aside from the Jimi Hendrix throw-in, all the acts Dunbar joined after The Mojos had a significant profile at one level or another before he joined up.

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Joe Walsh was established in The James Gang and as a solo artist before joining the Eagles.

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The OP mentioned Eddie Jobson in the context of Bill Bruford, and Jobson would be another good example.

After starting out in a couple of smaller bands, Jobson joined Roxy Music, then Frank Zappa’s band, then UK (which, as already noted, doesn’t count, as it wasn’t already an established band), then Jethro Tull, then Yes for a hot second.

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Nicky Hopkins was a member of The Jeff Beck Group, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the Jerry Garcia Band. He toured with the Rolling Stones (and did a lot of studio work for them and most major UK groups of the late 60s-early 70s).

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John McGeoch appears to fit the bill.

Coolest CV/Resume thus far?

j

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Steve Morse was established with the Dixie Dregs and had a long solo career before joining Deep Purple.

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Dave Navarro established in Jane’s Addiction, joined Red Hot Chili Peppers

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OK, that one was in the OP

How about Carmine Appice? Vanilla Fudge, then had a cup of coffee with pretty much every other hard rock band.

And I guess we include Tommy Aldrige. Started with Black Oak Arkansas, then dozens of other bands.

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Bassist Jim Rodford got his start in his cousin’s band Argent, then was in The Kinks from 1979 until they broke up in 1996. He later rejoined his cousin in a reunited version of The Zombies.

Rodford’s predecessor in The Kinks, Andy Pyle, got famous in Savoy Brown, played with the Kinks on 2 albums, and later joined Wishbone Ash in the 80s.

Fellow Argent alumnus drummer Bob Henrit also ended up in The Kinks starting in 1984, but I’m not aware of any other established band for him.

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So, what you’re looking for is:

Musician A, band B, and band C are all individually famous (or at least established) before musician A becomes a member (sequentially) of bands B and C.

I can’t think of any good examples right now, though I’ll keep thinking.

But I’m imagining this sort of thing happening fairly often if bands traded members the way, say, baseball teams do. I’m imagining one band’s manager calling another’s and saying, “Hey, our lead guitarist’s on the DL. You have two guitarists—how about you trade us one of your guitarists for our keyboard player, plus a roadie to be named later?”

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Mark Lanegan, singer-songwriter for the proto-Grunge band Screaming Trees, only slightly less successful than the Pearl Jams and Alice in Chainses during the nineties, Became for a few years a stable member of Queens of the Stone Age.

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How about Jeff Baxter? He was doing well as a guitarist and then joined Steely Dan and later The Doobie Brothers.

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John Wetton had quite a resume, most notably playing with King Crimson, UK, Asia, Uriah Heep, Roxy Music and Wishbone Ash.

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Both most recent bassists for Metallica, Jason Newsted and Randy Castillo both played in established bands before joining Metallica.

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Right.

Remember, folks, I’m not looking for “name all the bands Joe Musicman has played in.”

Also, I kept saying “band” in the OP, but joining up with an established solo artist is just as valid. E.g., the example of Tommy Aldridge above is a good one; joining Gary Moore’s band, then Ozzy’s band, both count.

UK and Asia don’t count, though, being supergroups in which he was a founding member.