Tribute Act - From Tribute To The Genuine Article

From Tribute To The Genuine Article

There have been several instances where members of a tribute band have been called up to join the actual band they were paying tribute to or a related band that features members of that band. This is often done to either replace a deceased member or just one who has simply chosen to leave the group. This is often seen as a great way for bands to carry on since tribute band members have usually studied their part and can closely replicate the musical parts of the original artists. Some examples include:

• Lead singer Rob Halford left Judas Priest in 1992 and was replaced by Tim "Ripper" Owens from the tribute band British Steel in 1996. This was the first publicised example of a tribute performer joining the band they were paying tribute to and was the inspiration for the 2001 film Rock Star. Owens eventually left Judas Priest in 2003 when Halford rejoined the band.

• Tommy Thayer, who once played with the Kiss cover band Cold Gin as Ace Frehley, became Frehley's replacement in Kiss in 2002. Prior to these events, Thayer had worked with Kiss as a songwriter on their 1989 album Hot in the Shade and a session guitarist on the 1998 album Psycho Circus, and had assisted Frehley in re-learning his guitar parts to old Kiss songs for a reunion tour after the latter's long long hiatus from the band.

• When original drummer for The Jam, Rick Buckler formed the band The Gift in 2006, which performed Jam material, guitarist Russell Hastings joined on guitar. Hastings had been a member of a Jam tribute band. Later that year original Jam bassist Bruce Foxton joined the band as well and they changed their name to From The Jam. Even though Buckler has left, Hastings still performs in the band with Foxton.

• When singer Jon Anderson was unable to rejoin progressive rock band Yes in 2008 due to health problems, Benoît David replaced him after bassist Chris Squire discovered a video of him performing with a Yes tribute band called Close to the Edge. David left the band in 2012 and was replaced by Jon Davison, who was with the Yes tribute band Roundabout.

• In 2009, original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh formed the band Furthur, whose repertoire consists primarily of Grateful Dead songs. They selected guitarist John Kadlecik from the renowned Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra to play the parts of the late Jerry Garcia.

• In 2010 singer Dave Brock joined Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors in their reformation project Manzarek-Krieger. Brock had performed in The Doors cover band, Wild Child, for over 20 years.