# Most recently formed band with no surviving original members **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616 "2016-01-19T20:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/1 "2016-01-19T20:26:32Z")
This is not my original idea, I freely admit to reading another poster pose the question in a thread a few years back. But all the recently deceased musicians made me recall the question, so I made it it’s own thread. Let’s define band as 3 or more members, with at least one single in the top 100 at some point. Let’s also say the formed date is when the band started calling themselves by their current name. My nomination would be **the Ramones** , formed in 1974, last original member died in 2014. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/2 "2016-01-19T21:30:39Z")
Menudo…nevermind, that was a dream I had Or I skipped the word Surviving ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/3 "2016-01-19T22:20:01Z")
Is anyone from the original Lynyrd Skynyrd still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/4 "2016-01-19T23:04:42Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Is anyone from the original Lynyrd Skynyrd still alive? Yes, Gary Rossington and Larry Junstrom are alive. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/5 "2016-01-20T01:40:46Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > My nomination would be **the Ramones** , formed in 1974, last original member died in 2014. This just might win the title and it is odd to me. Because for the longest time the in-joke was the **The Ramones** were immortal and unchanging, never looking or sounding appreciably different over a decade and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/6 "2016-01-20T01:53:02Z")
The Traveling Wilburys has three living members and three dead ones (two of them original members), so they’re halfway there. Considering how many bands from post-1974 are all drug addicts and fly around in Buddy Holly specials, I’m surprised there aren’t a lot more bands on this list. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/7 "2016-01-20T16:24:49Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Considering how many bands from post-1974 are all drug addicts and fly around in Buddy Holly specials, I’m surprised there aren’t a lot more bands on this list. Yes, after I posted the OP and went a-googling, I was hard pressed to even come up with a second contender. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/8 "2016-01-20T16:37:00Z")
The Jimmy Hendrix Experience is the only other contender I could find, but they formed 8 years before the Ramones in 1966. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/9 "2016-01-20T16:52:31Z")
Any other bands in a plane crash? Solo artists have died in crashes such as Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Randy Rhoads, and Jim Croce. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/10 "2016-01-20T17:00:21Z")
I just went through the R&R HOF list and even with the old doo wop groups there is at least one surviving original member. This is a much harder task than I imagined. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/11 "2016-01-20T17:02:22Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Any other bands in a plane crash? Solo artists have died in crashes such as Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Randy Rhoads, and Jim Croce. Lynyrd Skynyrd was in a crash in 1977 that killed 3 members of the band and injured the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/12 "2016-01-20T17:04:29Z")
I meant bands other than Skynyrd. I did not add that since they were mentioned above and I figured people knew about their plane crash. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/13 "2016-01-20T17:17:50Z")
Patsy Cline, Otis Redding, John Denver, Aaliyah, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Ricky Nelson, Glenn Miller, the Bar-Kays (same crash as Otis Redding) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/14 "2016-01-20T17:23:35Z")
I guess the idea is , if you fly a lot , join a band. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/15 "2016-01-20T17:26:20Z")
Mad Season was fading fast for awhile. 4 members, with Layne Staley and John Baker Saunders dying by 2002. They had only formed in 1994. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/16 "2016-01-20T18:27:03Z")
T. Rex might qualify, but Tyrannosaurus Rex originally formed as a duo and the subsequent T. Rex also formed as a duo. The original touring drummer, added when they went to a quartet thus making them eligible to be a “band” by this thread’s definition, survives. ---
**Author:** ![Cardboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Cardboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardboard)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/17 "2016-01-20T20:19:02Z")
Are any of the original Drifters still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recently-formed-band-with-no-surviving-original-members/743616/18 "2016-01-20T21:58:48Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > Are any of the original Drifters still alive? The ones who might be don’t have their own listings in [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drifters). This, plus the group’s incredibly shaky history, makes me doubt they could even agree on who the original members are. Louis Price and Charlie Thomas are still alive, but both joined long after the group was formed.