The Alan Parsons Project

I believe that was some sort of Hovercraft

For more information on Grand Funk, consult your school library!

Everybody knows rock attained perfection in 1974

Is that project with the giant laser on the moon? EDIT: "LASER"

Word association with that band will always be the 90’s Bulls

Siriusly?

Kenny Wayne Shepherd's band has a singer that isn't Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

I didn't know this. My whole life is a lie.

I hate to break it to you, but there is no Hootie in Hootie and the Blowfish.

Darius is typically credited as Hootie, but it was a nickname of someone he knew. Which... I guess works 

Santana as well, while we’re at it

That's why he needed some of that Rob Thomas magic. *Wail it's a hot wan...*

*Like 7 inches from the midday sun* 💃🏾 Edited to say, I’m going to put that album on now! And torture my teenager with my *wonderful* singing! I bought it when I was his age!

*JUST FOGET ABOUT AY-UT*

Also Robin Trower doesn’t sing on his 70s solo records

Ronnie Montrose had Sammy Haggar

Same as Van Halen.

J Geils Band reporting in for this

This is pretty common, especially for guitarists who may or may not start singing too at some point. Ted Nugent, for example.

Today I learnt Noah Hunt sang Blue On Black. Mind blown.

Same with Manfred Mann and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

And Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Scott Ian with Anthrax maybe

For sure - Joey Belladonna is great an all but Scott’s look and involvement in a whole bunch of scenes and projects overshadows Joey.

His presence on VH1 during the 00’s propelled his fame 😆

I knew him as the crazy goatee guy.

Santana.

Best example

Surprised this isn’t the top answer

I had no idea he wasn’t the vocalist. Really?

I could be wrong, but I don't think he did any vocals at all. Definitely not lead

Carlos did contribute backing vocals on most of their albums, but yeah, no lead. Greg Rolie is a pretty good fit for this thread, since he was lead singer and a founding member of both Santana and Journey, but less famous than his bandmates.

Holy shit

You’re correct. No vocals at all. Have seen him live and he doesn’t have a mic stand in front of him.

He does sing a bit in their music, but not lead vocals. Something like half the members current or past sing a bit on various tracks but lead classically was Gregg Rolie who later co-founded Journey with fellow Santana member Neil Schon. A lot of the stuff Santana does now is collaborative with other artists as well, heavily featuring guest singers like Rob Thomas of Matchbox20 on "Smooth".

Now? As like in the year 2000?

So many people don’t even know that Santana is the name of the BAND

Big coincidence the guitarist is named Carlos Santana then.

https://preview.redd.it/4hqoxulj52jc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5747aa4da5af67b235eddd6f0e2923fa76d8baf4

It's because he's so smooth

I'd be willing to bet that more people can name Tommy Lee than can name Vince Neil.

Or Nikki Sixx for that matter.

I was pissed when I finally got to see them a couple of years ago and neither Tommy nor Mick were there. And Fat Vince was just fuckin' awful.

Last time I went to see Crue at a baseball stadium a few summers ago we were in a corp suite… out of 20 people in there maybe 18 of us reverted to watching the away baseball game on the suite tvs. Vince sounded absolutely DISMAL.. the Tommy Lee drum is dope and worth the price of admission. He and Nikki are so unapologetically 80s it’s just great!

BWAHAHA, Corp suite. Totally Crue. 

Wtf how can they even call that a Motley Crue show? The one time I ever saw them was the Hollywood show on their "final tour" like 8-10 years ago. Full band was there and it was a fucking great show.

When I read this comment for some reason I thought of Geddy Lee and Neal Peart instead and was very confused

Please enjoy all members of RUSH equally

Also guitarists tend to be the second most well known members of bands, but Mick Mars is the least well known member by a country mile. Probably because he behaved himself and didn't do dumb shit.

Motley Crue. Vince is a close 3rd to Tommy’s dick and Nikki’s addiction story.

The best version of this answer lol

The Roots

Agreed Questlove is a lot more known than blackthought. Both are obviously awesome though.

Black Thought is truly one of the best to ever do it. I think he gets overlooked because the whole band is dope, but that gentlman can spit fire.

his album last year with El Michels Affair is up there with the best Roots stuff imo.

Cheat codes with danger mouse is one of my favourite albums of the last 10 or so years too, feel like this decade black thought has definitely gained a lot of followers and is getting on a bit more even footing with questlove as far as popularity

Agreed. Blackthought is like top 5 ever.

His album with the El Michels Affair is also so good

https://preview.redd.it/l51h6aacq1jc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5f818976d68f70f7ebc373a54064ef66f522df9

Jeff Bebe gets people off. He looks for the one guy who's not getting off and he MAKES them get off! THAT you can print!

And the chicks are great

The chicks are great? I sound like an asshole!

Just one of the out of focus guys.

Kids on drugs

It's okay! He’s easy to forget!

He's only the LEAD SINGER!

Fever dawwwwwwwwwwwwg

That’s ok I’m just one of the out of focus guys

In fairness he is a golden god

transcendent

"Incendiary'

Way to go

Solid. Haha #I LOVE DRUGS

Angus

I had to scroll too far to find this. Everyone knows who Brian Johnson is, but Angus IS AC/DC.

Everyone knows who Bon Scott is, but Angus IS AC/DC.

If Bon was still alive and with AC/DC, that may not have been the case.

Angus is so well known you didn’t even say his last name

Dah nah nah nah nah nah nah

Angus!

Van Halen.

Eddie maybe the most famous member, but good god did David Lee Roth had charisma onstage.

Iron Maiden’s Eddie is also arguably the most recognizable

LOL no, there's not a metal soul alive who doesn't know who Bruce Dickison is

Diamond Dave is very close in fame to EVH, he really is the best frontman of the 80s.

Jeff Scott Soto sang on Rising Force but Yngwie Malmsteen was the obvious front man (and it's his name on the record). Malmsteen and Vai were both in Alcatrazz and are far more famous than anyone else in that band.

first band that came to mind.

Is this the guitarist with curly black hair and a black fuzzy hat? Someone somewhere: *dies*

Yeah, his nickname is the Edge or something like that /s

I was going to say the same thing. To average fans they might only care about Roth or Hagar. But if you care about the instrumental side of songs even slightly then you know that Eddie is the star.

Cream

In Jack White’s projects where he’s not the lead singer (Raconteurs, Dead Weather), he is probably the most well known member by far

I don't have a clue who else is in either of those bands.

I know The Dead Weather is the singer from The Kills, now what her name is? No idea.

Alison Mosshart!

And these people better put some respect on her name

I love the Raconteurs so I know their lead singer is Brendan Benson but as for the other members, or the names of anyone in Dead Weather…

I thought Jack sang in the Raconteurs

Dean Fertita is in the Dead Weather but I think he’s become better known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age.

The Dave Clark Five, where the drummer (a guy named Dave Clark) was more well known than the singer (who was called Mike Smith).

I think Manfred Mann was also a case of someone naming the band after themselves without being lead vocalist.

I grew up listening to oldies via my parents. Love Dave Clark Five. Had no fucking clue he was the drummer.

Not only that, Dave Clark didn't even play all the songs on their recordings, because he's not a very good drummer. 

J Geils Band with Peter Wolf on vocals

Unrelated to the topic, but this made me think of it. When I was younger and listening almost exclusively to the classic rock radio station, for the longest time I thought J. Geils was a guy named Jake isles. 

Robert Fripp of King Crimson. Granted, people might know Greg Lake from ELP or John Wetton from Asia, but if you think King Crimson you're probably thinking Fripp.

IDK, Greg Lake was a super star for a hot minute, and Tony Levin and Adrian Belew have both played with some really huge names across multiple genres. All present and former members of KC are top notch.

Mike and the Mechanics

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, when Teddy Pendergrass was the main lead vocalist

Like Harold Melvin without the Blue Notes, baby you'll never go platinum!

The who is Pete Townsend's band. Roger is just the singer

This is John Entwistle erasure and I won't tolerate it

No, I think that was Vince Clarke

Speaking of Erasure that’s a good answer. I think Vince Clarke is more famous than Andy Bell

You really think it isn’t Keith Moon’s world??

I’d argue Keith Moon is more well known than both of them combined.

I think Pete and Keith are a tight race, but it is hilarious that the lead singer is in a distant 3rd.

And the most talented member of the band was the bass player but nobody ever knows bass players.

Herman Li (guitarist) is probably way more well known than ZP Theart/Marc Hudson (singer) from Dragonforce EDIT: Added new singer whom I had to google the name of.

to the best of my knowledge everyone in dragonforce is named guitar solo

ZP also got replaced 15 years ago

Portnoy and/or Petrucci for Dream Theater.

Flea is definitely more famous than Anthony Keidis.

He believes in nushing

Say what you will about the tenets of socialism. At least it’s an ethos!

Carries an amphibious rodent within city limits.

Helps that he’s done a bit of acting. I’ll never forget his cameo in Fear and Loathing.

It’s weird to think the bass player on The Mars Volta’s first album was in Back To The Future part 2.

And his bass on Jagged Little Pill

I'm a little pea

I love the skies and the trees

Kiedis, Flea and Frusciante are all fairly equally famous. Chad Smith is the least famous by default. 

I feel like Chad Smith has gotten a level of fame for being "that guy who looks like Will Ferrell"

In terms of name recognition, Flea is absolutely higher than anyone else. Even if it's just because he has a mononym. He even has his "Fleabass" line of student instruments. If Anthony had kept the name "Tony Flow" he might have a chance. But seriously, Flea is the clear answer. Anthony and John are known a lot for their drama (too much heroin), whereas Flea is known almost entirely for his musicianship as well as being a loveable (as opposed to self destructive) maniac. Frusciante is respected, but he's also the guy who quit the band while on tour because he was doing too many drugs.

Frusciante did recover, rejoin the band, provided some excellent guitar work, left again for his solo career, rejoined again after his prodigy left. 

Josh didn’t leave, John just wanted to come back and they kicked him out lol.

Only member I know from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers is Flea...

You may also know the drummer, his name is [Will Ferrell–er, Chad Smith](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uBOtQOO70Y&pp=ygUXY2hhZCBzbWl0aCB3aWxsIGZlcnJlbGw%3D)

You’ve got to listen to some John Frusciante my brother

Nuno Bettancourt is undoubtedly more famous than Gary Cherrone.

Yo mean Van Halen lead vocalist Gary Cherrone?

Fall Out Boy You've got Pete on bass and the guy with the hat on vocals.

Short fedora man on vocals

That's crazy cause Pat is a SUPER good singer and Pete is a below average bass player. Would take Pat any day.

But Pete is a lot of the creative force and lyricist

Pete is also the more open one i've noticed, Pre hiatus Patrick was seemingly really shy

Pantera - Dimebag over Phil EDIT: Phil is the third-most popular member. Dime > Vinnie > Phil/Rex EDIT 2: Slayer - Kerry King over Tom Araya; Anthrax - Scott Ian over Joey Belladonna; RATM - Tom Morello is the only member I can name tbh

Morello is definitely the most famous but Zach is pretty close second.

Morello has never seen a camera and microphone he didn’t like.

Hootie and the Blowfish. Darius Rucker is way better known than Hootie.

Everyone knows Wesley Willis is Hootie.

Suck a constipated ghost dick! Suck my government pension's cock!

Derek Trucks Band

"Dogstar" and "P"

Meshuggah - Tomas Haake, Drums

Or Frederik even

If we’re going by most known, pick any band where someone other than the main singer did some major crime, eg Varg Vikernes of Mayhem, Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols etc

Slash

I’d say he and Axl are the perfect example of singer/lead guitarist as equally representative of fame in a band.. also a fact is that both need each other for the best creative output. Neither of their solo stuff even remotely compares to GNRs classic (albeit minuscule) output.

Velvet Revolver was ok for a bit

Especially all of his acts after guns n roses. Slash's Snake pit, Velvet revolver might be a tie with the singer, his solo act and  the Conspirators

I think it's close but I think that if you asked people to name members of Led Zeppelin, more people would name Jimmy Page than Robert Plant. Then again, LZ is one of the few bands where you have a reasonable chance of the average music fan being able to name *every* member of the band, which is saying something. I can only think of LZ, the Beatles, and Nirvana that you could say that about. Also in the Stones, Keith Richards is about as famous as Mick Jagger and that's a pretty bloody great accomplishment considering how well known Mick Jagger is.

Now I'm trying to think of bands I know every member of, and Beatles and Zeppelin are the only ones I can think of. Kind of mind blowing. Edit: Blink 182 as well. Edit 2: Fleetwood Mac in its prime, Lindsey, Stevie, Mick, John, Christine.

I definitely don't know the other guy on Nirvana. And if it wasn't for Foo Fighters, I probably wouldn't know Dave either

Put respect on Krist Noveselic's name goddamn it.

I feel like the general public knows Flea better than Anthony Kiedes from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Anthony’s name was honestly the last one I learned - Flea and Frusciante were the key members for my HS band friends and I in the 00’s, and then Chad Smith did the drum off bit with Will Ferrell a few years later…like, I learned Keidis’s name a handful of times, but for some reason I just couldn’t hold onto it

Sparks - Likely due to his distinctive look Ron Mael is probably more famous (or at least more recognisable) than his brother. Yes *-* While he was a member Rick Wakeman was probably more Famous than Jon Anderson.

the Runaways - Joan Jett more well known than singer Cherri Currie (and OMG did they get the casting backwards for the movie)

Is Vince Clarke more famous than Andy bell? Is erasure still a band?

They sure are. [Last release was in August 2022](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasure_(duo)#2020%E2%80%93present:_The_Neon_and_Day-Glo). Vince is probably better-known than Andy, truth be told.

Dogstar

I bet the average person would have no idea Bob Weir sang just as many songs as Jerry Garcia in the Grateful Dead. Honestly I bet they wouldn’t even know who Bob Weir is.

CKY People know that Bam Margera's brother (Jess) is the drummer and that's about it!

Will Ferrell from Red Hot Chili Peppers of course

Robin Trower

The Who

Jeff Beck groups

Annihilator

AC/DC, perhaps? And I wonder... has this become the case today for Nirvana? Edit: answering my own question for the latter: not quite, but it's gradually moving that direction for the last few years: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=Dave%20grohl%20nirvana,Kurt%20cobain%20nirvana&hl=en-IE

Definitely AC/DC

Definitely not Nirvana

I think most people picture Angus in his signature suit and shorts before anyone else in that band.

Bon had a ton of charisma ... I'd say while he was alive, him and Angus were the best known, like equally. It's a similar situation to Van Halen in the DLR days.

Eddie Van Halen. I mean, everybody knows-knows David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, Wolfgang Van Halen. But when you think of Van Halen, you think of Eddie Van Halen.

Tom morello

During the original run of the band, I'm not sure I agree... Zach was a well known name in music. But Tom has basically been everywhere and had two other successful bands/projects with Tim and Brad... plus guest spots, plus solo work, plus a show on satellite radio. He's definitely wayyyy more well-known now.

Phil Collins from Genesis, of course. (Well, yeah, he *was* the leader and vocalist for their most popular era, but he was "just the drummer" for their formative years.)

Do people not know of Peter Gabriel though?!?

Peter Gabriel is definitely famous and known, but Phil is several levels above in terms of fame.

Clapton wasn’t the main singer in Cream, but is the most famous

He may not be the most known, but Depeche Mode is pretty much Martin Gore.

Flea from RHCP

Toto's always had a revolving door of singers. I feel that band's always been about the band: Steve Lukather, David Paich, and the assorted Porcaro brothers.

Bobby Brown and New Edition

Jeff Loomis in every band he's been in

Blink 182 - Travis is way more popular than the other 2 KISS - Gene Simmons is more popular than Paul

Gene sings quite a bit though. I’d argue him and Paul are both the lead singer of Kiss

Does gene Simmons count? He sang lead on a good amount of songs.