Katy Perry used to be a Christian singer before she switched to a more club friendly sound. Sugar Ray started off as a hard rock/metal band before finding commercial success with girl-friendly alt rock. Are there other examples of musicians who switched genres (successfully or not)?
Jessica Simpson appears to be courting the country music market now.
Do bands count? Pink Floyd changed from somewhat happy, somewhat creepy british invasion-sounding psychedelic music to angry progressive rock. While I like both, the only similarity I can tell is the drums have the same sound to them at least until Division Bell (and I only exclude that cause I can’t remember it musically in my mind.)
Alanis Morisette used to be dance-pop Debbie Gibson-type music before becoming more alternative and aggressive.
Ministry used to be melodic synth pop before going industrial/metal.
You can make an argument for Radiohead, which started as melodic Brit Pop (see Pablo Honey and The Bends) before transitioning into the more abstract and electronic stuff like Kid A and Amnesiac.
David Bowie and Tom Waits straddle a number of genres, but I’m not sure they fit exactly what you’re looking for.
The Beastie Boys started as a punk band before transitioning over to hip hop (and you can hear the transition-in-progress in License to Ill), but I don’t think they ever released anything as a purely punk band.
Depeche Mode went from cheesy, dancey synth pop to some much darker (but still danceable).
Tori Amos headed an 80s synth pop band called Y Kant Tori Read (check it on Youtube) that had echoes perhaps of Kate Bush in it, but then moved to her chick-with-a-piano sound.
Genesis went from expansive prog rock to basically a backing band for Phil Collins pop rock.
Ministry is exactly the kind of thing I was thinking, can’t believe I forgot them. Yes bands count, although I would argue pink floyd was more of an evolution than an outright commercial style-grab.
One more: New Kids on the Block who tried to remold themselves as a rap outfit in NKOTB.
The Osmonds have reinvented themselves as a country and western act in Bronson, Missouri.
Does that really count? Branson is where musicians who haven’t recorded a new album in 30 years go to die.
Neil Young has switched genres a number of times: folk rock, hard rock, rockabilly, big band swing, etc.
Frank Zappa wrote crazy doo-wop songs, then wrote whacked out rock tunes, then wrote even crazier jazz compositions and symphonies.
Brian Setzer went from a 3-piece rockabilly band to a 30 piece orchestra doing swing tunes.
Garth Brooks released a solo rock album (under the pseudonym Chris Gaines; it was related to a film project he was working on).
Many artists switch genres. Some are even successful at it.
Liz Phair went from edgy alt-rock to non-edgy pop rock recently.
Jewel went from folkie poet chick, to dance pop to country.
Pantera was a glam rock band before becoming metal. True, they wern’t famous until after they made the switch, but it’s still pretty dramatic.
Not applicable. What Setzer and the other practitioners of this genre call “swing” isn’t, really. It’s basically a rockabilly beat with arrangements for horns. Setzer is doing the same thing he’s always done, just with more backup musicians.
No slam at Setzer intended – I’ve loved his music since he was the front man for a local Long Island bar band known as the Tomcats, which went on to gain fame and fortune as the Stray Cats.
Hijack: Some Old Bullshit was released in 1994, but it’s all hardcore stuff from the 80’s.
**The Bee Gees. ** They went from melodic and lush pop rock to out and out disco. When they released “Jive Talking,” the record company played it for DJs without identifying the group so as not to have them automatically turn it down.
Bob Dylan changes genres every couple of years – from folk, to folk rock, to rock, to country, to gospel, to whatever strikes his fancy.
Nelly Furtado went from folk-rock to hip-hop/dance/r&b.
Does Beethoven pre- and post-Eroica count as a “genre” change? If so, maybe the very first one to do so.
Richie Blackmore - went from Deep Purple and Rainbow to Blackmore’s Night. Hard rock to Renaissance music.
Tommy Lee tried to form some kind of lame hip hop band a few years ago. “Masters of Mayhem” or something like that. He brought them to some kind of metal festival in Italy. They looked and acted like complete tools. They had to cut the set short because people were booing and throwing garbage at them.
Kid Rock started out a Rapper, learned to play instruments and switched up to Nu-Metal/Rap-Rock before then going almost full out Southern Rock, and then sort of came back to a Hard Rock/ Americana Rocker.