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Top 20 Supergroups

Welcome back to another list for Top “Ten” Tuesday. This list is a little different than my last few because we are not going to focus on any particular artist. Today we are going to take a look at supergroups. A supergroup is a group that is made up of members who were successful as solo artists or from another group and are well-known musicians that come together to form a new group. Some supergroups stick around for only one album while others have made that a more permanent or lasting group. Unlike most of my lists with a mini-bio, this will be a more simplified description, simply listing the band members along with previous projects.  To count on this list, the supergroup must have released at least one studio album.  One night performances will not count, although The Dirty Mac would probably be on here. Knowing that John Lennon of The Beatles and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones worked together would have been an amazing show to see, but since that is one show it will not count. Nor will supergroups that have only released live albums so Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band will not be included for that reason.  With that intro out of the way, let’s get started. This will be my Top 20 Supergroups.

#20-The Highwaymen

Johnny Cash (Solo)

Waylon Jennings (Solo)

Willie Nelson (Solo)

Kris Kristofferson (Solo)

#19-The Power Station

Robert Palmer (Solo)

John Taylor (Duran Duran)

Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)

Tony Thompson (Chic)

#18-Bad English

John Waite (The Babys, Solo)

Ricky Phillips (The Babys)

Jonathan Cain (The Babys, Journey)

Neal Schon (Santana, Journey)

Deen Castronovo (Wild Dogs, Tony MacAlpine, Cacophony)

#17-Chickenfoot

Sammy Hagar (Montrose, HSAS (Hagar Schon Aaron Shrieve), Van Halen, Solo)

Michael Anthony (Van Halen)

Joe Satriani (Mick Jagger, Deep Purple, Solo)

Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Glenn Hughes)

#16-Ginger Baker’s Air Force

Ginger Baker (Blues Incorporated, Graham Bond Organisation, Cream, Blind Faith)

Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith)

Ric Grech (Family, Blind Faith)

Graham Bond (Graham Bond Organisation)

Denny Laine (The Moody Blues)

#15-Journey

*I will not be mentioning all the members of Journey, just the founders and those before Steve Perry joining.

Gregg Rolie (Santana)

Neal Schon (Santana)

George Tickner (Frumious Bandersnatch)

Ross Valory (Steve Miller Band)

Prairie Prince (The Tubes)

Aynsley Dunbar, replaces Prince in 1974 (John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Frank Zappa, David Bowie (to list a few))

#14-Humble Pie

Steve Marriott (Small Faces)

Peter Frampton (The Herd)

Greg Ridley (Spooky Tooth)

Clem Clempson (Colosseum)

Jerry Shirley (Apostolic Intervention)

#13-Souther-Hillman-Furay Band

Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco)

Chris Hillman (The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas)

J.D. Souther (Longbranch Pennywhistle, songwriter for Linda Rondstadt and The Eagles)

#12-Velvet Revolver

Slash with Velvet Revolver

Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots)

Slash (Guns N’ Roses, Slash’s Snakepit)

Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses, Loaded, The Fartz)

Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Hawk, The Cult)

Dave Kushner (Wasted Youth, Electric Love Hogs, Loaded)

#11-Rainbow

Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple)

Roger Glover (Deep Purple)

Cozy Powell (The Jeff Beck Group)

Ronnie James Dio (Elf)

Jimmy Bain (makes a name for himself after Rainbow in Dio, Thin Lizzy, and Phil Lynott)

Joe Lynn Turner (Fandango (later will briefly work with Deep Purple, as well as Yngwie Malmsteen, Mother’s Army Hughes Turner Project, and Sunstorm to name a few))

Don Airey (Colosseum II, Gary Moore (later will work with Ozzy Osbourne and Deep Purple))

#10-The Firm

Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company)

Jimmy Page (The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin)

Tony Franklin (Roy Harper, Whitesnake)

Chris Slade (Uriah Heep, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, AC/DC)

#9-Asia

John Wetton (Family, King Crimson, Uriah Heep)

Steve Howe (Yes)

Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Emerson Lake & Palmer)

Geoff Downes (The Buggles, Yes)

#8-Blind Faith

Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Cream)

Ginger Baker (Blues Incorporated, Graham Bond Organisation, Cream)

Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis Group, Traffic)

Ric Grech (Family)

#7-Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

David Crosby (The Byrds)

Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield)

Graham Nash (The Hollies)

Neil Young (Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse)

John Barbata (Never credited as an official member (The Turtles))

#6-Derek and the Dominos

Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith)

Bobby Whitlock (Delaney and Bonnie)

Carl Radle (Delaney and Bonnie)

Jim Gordon (Delaney and Bonnie)

Duane Allman (The Allman Brothers Band)

#5-Cream

Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers)

Ginger Baker (Blues Incorporated, Graham Bond Organisation)

Jack Bruce (Graham Bond Organisation)

#4-Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Keith Emerson (The Nice)

Greg Lake (King Crimson)

Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)

#3-Hollywood Vampires

Alice Cooper (Alice Cooper, Solo)

Joe Perry (Aerosmith, The Joe Perry Project)

Johnny Depp (Rock City Angels, P)

Guests on their debut album

Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction, Porno for Pyros)

Tommy Henriksen (Alice Cooper)

Brian Johnson (AC/DC)

Robby Krieger (The Doors)

Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings, Solo)

Zak Starkey (The Who, Oasis)

Joe Walsh (James Gang, The Eagles, Solo)

#2-Bad Company

Paul Rodgers (Free)

Simon Kirke (Free)

Mick Ralphs (Mott the Hoople)

Boz Burrell (King Crimson, Solo)

#1-Traveling Wilburys

Bob Dylan (Solo)

Tom Petty (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)

Roy Orbison (Solo)

Jeff Lynne (The Move, Electric Light Orchestra)

George Harrison (The Beatles, Solo)

Normally I don’t list Honorable Mentions in a list larger than a Top 10, but I have three here that are technically a supergroup but also…not quite. I’ll briefly explain why they are but aren’t.

Honorable Mentions

Led Zeppelin

Jimmy Page (The Yardbirds)

Robert Plant (Band of Joy)

John Bonham (Band of Joy)

John Paul Jones (session musician)

It’s debated if Led Zeppelin is a supergroup because for one the band initially started as a The Yardbirds, with only one Yardbird left in the band when the other members left. Jimmy Page needed to find in some fill-in musicians to finish out a Yardbirds tour. He met Robert Plant who was previously in Band of Joy and brought on his friend and bandmate, John Bonham. John Paul Jones was just a session musician to fill in the last position needed for the tour. Page later renamed the group The New Yardbirds but got a cease and desist from former member Chris Dreja to change the name, ultimately being changed to Led Zeppelin. Since the band started as just fill-in musicians and I honestly don’t know how known Band of Joy was at the time and probably only got popular in retrospect knowing two members of Led Zeppelin came from there.

Heaven and Hell

Ronnie James Dio (Elf, Rainbow, Dio, Black Sabbath, Dio, Hear ’n Aid)

Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)

Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath, GZR)

Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Rick Derringer, Dio, Hear ’n Aid)

I don’t know if Heaven and Hell would count as a supergroup. The band’s name was taken from the title of Black Sabbath’s first album featuring Ronnie James Dio on vocals after the firing of Ozzy Osbourne. Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, founding members of Black Sabbath teamed up with former members of Sabbath Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice to tour and create another album. The band chose this title to differentiate from the Ozzy Osbourne-led Black Sabbath lineup. Iommi wanted to avoid confusion between the two different lineups of Sabbath so the fans would not expect to hear ‘Iron Man’ or ‘War Pigs’ which were popular songs in the Ozzy-led era of Sabbath.

The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra

Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane)

Grace Slick (The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane)

Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane)

Peter Kaukonen

Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane)

David Frieberg (Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane) 

David Crosby (The Byrds, Crosby Stills Nash & Young)

Graham Nash (The Hollies, Crosby Stills Nash & Young)

Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead)

Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead)

Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead)

Harvey Brooks

Phil Sawyer

This supergroup while it has a lot of big names, I don’t know if this technically counts as a supergroup. Their albums with this lineup do not mention this group by name. Their first album is released under Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship, the first time Jefferson Starship was used from these artists but before Jefferson Starship officially formed 4 years later. Their second album was released under only Paul Kantner and Grace Slick. Their third album was released under Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, and David Frieberg. Finally, in 1974, the first official Jefferson Starship album would be released. Since the three previously mentioned albums, do not list The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra group by name, that is why they are only listed as an honorable mention. The name was a nickname given to this group of artists who recorded together in the early 1970s.

There are so many more supergroups throughout history that I didn’t even know I’ve never heard of, otherwise, this list might’ve looked very different. I know some would probably wonder why Audioslave for example isn’t on here. Well, I’ve never listened to their music, otherwise, they probably would’ve been on here. There are only so many spots to fill. I’d like to revisit this idea in the future though with possibly another Top 20 Supergroups (simply titled Another 20 Supergroups), not necessarily in a Top 20 format. Regardless of some obvious choices missing, I hope you still enjoyed my list. What songs would you include on your list? Share your list in the comment section below. Before you go, don’t forget to follow Awesome Albums on Instagram and Twitter, like on Facebook, and Subscribe on both YouTube and BitChute for music-related content.  Also, don’t forget to come back next Tuesday, for another list for Top “Ten” Tuesday!