Six band members who went solo

Take That are a British group formed in… ha. Did you really think that out of all the band members-turned-solo artists in the realm of popular music, I’d choose to spotlight them? As a matter of fact, I’m not. Principally because they’re not a band.

Popular music has long been blessed by those artists who dared to ditch the comforting surroundings and often creative shackles of a band, and embark on a new career all of their own. Indeed, all four members of the Beatles launched prolific solo careers following the band’s acrimonious split announced in 1970.

But since, I’ll admit, I’m not entirely familiar with any of the Beatles’ solo efforts beyond George Harrison’s ‘My Sweet Lord’, featured emotionally in last autumn’s The Grand Tour finale, here instead are six of my favourite band members who went solo.

John Fogerty
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Fogerty was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and lead guitarist of Creedence Clearwater Revival before their messy disbandment in 1972. Fogerty soon embarked on a solo career that has lasted over half a century, in this time releasing ten solo studio albums. Four years ago, Fogerty was named by Rolling Stone magazine as the 40th greatest songwriter of all time, and this summer is set to perform on at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

A little over two years ago, Fogerty finally won the rights to his own music he once wrote for Creedence, and is now free to perform these legendary tracks including ‘Up Around The Bend’ and ‘Travellin’ Band’ alongside such solo hits as ‘Almost Saturday Night’ and ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’.

Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins
Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel left the pioneering prog rock band in 1975, wishing to take a breather from the everyday strain of the music industry and spend more time with his young family in Somerset.

A year later, though, Gabriel was back in the recording studio with a point to prove, and in 1977 he released his self-titled, debut solo album. Car, as it would be colloquially known among fans, marked the genesis of what would become one of the most famed careers of any solo artist in music, with the likes of ‘Solsbury Hill’ being succeeded by such fellow classics as ‘Sledgehammer’, ‘In Your Eyes’, and the Kate Bush duet ‘Don’t Give Up’, as well as six Grammys.

Gabriel’s decision to depart Genesis eventually led to drummer Phil Collins filling the vacant frontman role, prompting not only the band’s emergence into the mainstream charts but also Collins’ emergence into the most prolific charting artist of the entire 1980s. Collins would also later bag himself an Oscar for his track ‘You’ll Be in My Heart’ – one of four songs he penned and performed for Disney’s Tarzan (1999).

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham
Famed Fleetwood Mac songwriting duo Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham both found success away from the band that originally made their names. The pair, and once-romantic partnership, released their aptly named debut record Buckingham Nicks (1973) to very little commercial reward, yet were soon awarded their break by British drummer Mick Fleetwood, who asked Buckingham to join his band.

Buckingham, though, insisted he and Nicks were a duo – Fleetwood could have both, or neither. The pair’s songwriting talents, combined with those of Christine McVie and, in my books, the finest rhythm section of all time with Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, ultimately led to some of the greatest records in rock history.

Still, Nicks and Buckingham both had aspirations beyond the band. Nicks’ debut solo album, Bella Donna (1981), topped the Billboard Hot 100 and was later cited by Billboard as one of the greatest albums of all time. Nicks has since been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the first female artist to do so), both for her solo work and that with Fleetwood Mac.

Nicks’ track ‘Stand Back’ (1983) best demonstrates her musical prowess that, if anything, saw her solo career surpass her Fleetwood Mac reputation: her vocals, lyricism, and willingness to collaborate with other musicians to perfect her work. ‘Stand Back’ featured synthesisers and a drum track laid down by Prince, as well as a killer guitar solo from Toto guitarist Steve Lukather.

Buckingham himself had released two solo albums by the time of his initial departure from Fleetwood Mac (1987), the new wave-inspired single ‘Trouble’ proving his highest-charting solo effort, peaking at number nine.

His solo career never quite hit the peak of Nicks’, although fans of the National Lampoon’s Vacation film series will be familiar with Buckingham’s ‘Holiday Road’ which features prominently in each film’s soundtrack.

Tom Petty
It’s safe to say that the Gainesville, Florida native is one of my favourite musicians of all time. Performing alongside guitarist Mike Campbell and the rest of his band, the Heartbreakers, the late Tom Petty is responsible for some of the greatest classic rock tracks ever: ‘American Girl’, ‘Refugee’, and ‘The Waiting’, to name but a few.

Petty then embarked on his solo career in the late 1980s with what would prove one of the all-time great albums, Full Moon Fever (1989). However, the album did actually feature all but drummer Stan Lynch of the Heartbreakers (who felt he was in a “cover band” when performing Petty’s solo work), as well as Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and George Harrison from his Travelling Wilburys supergroup side project.

Full Moon Fever spawned the fundamental rock tracks ‘Free Fallin’’, ‘I Won’t Back Down’, ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’, and ‘Love is a Long Road’ – the latter re-emerging into the spotlight a year ago having been chosen to accompany the trailer for the new Florida-based Grand Theft Auto game.

With all this legendary music from these band members-come-solo artists, I needn’t ever listen to such drivel from Barlow, Williams et al. Speaking of, I better just delete ‘Never Forget’ and ‘These Days’ from my Spotify most recent.

Listen to these soloists’ songs here: