Bands break up all the time, but just because a group of musicians have decided not to work together anymore as a unit, it doesn't mean that none of the members will never work together again. Here are 10 examples of bands that were started with former bandmates.
1. Wild Flag
The disintegration of Sleater-Kinney in 2006 was a huge blow to the American alternative rock scene, but four years later, guitarist Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss reunited for indie rock supergroup Wild Flag, along with Mary Timony of Helium (now Ex Hex) and Rebecca Cole of the Minders. And Sleater-Kinney doesn't seem to be done just yet; they're gearing up for their 2015 release No Cities to Love.
2. Zwan
Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan has a famously contentious relationship with the other members of his band, but the one musician he worked with longer than any other was drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Following the break-up of the Pumpkins in 2000, Chamberlin joined Corgan for the short-lived Zwan, which broke up just seven months after the release of their sole album Mary Star of the Sea.
3. The Fire Theft
Emo legends Sunny Day Real Estate have broken up at least three times, but following their second break-up in 2001, guitarist Jeremy Enigk reunited with bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith for a new band called The Fire Theft, which was essentially Sunny Day Real Estate without lead guitarist Dan Hoerner.
4. Foo Fighters
The original incarnation of the Foo Fighters actually saw the reunions of two separate bands. Dave Grohl recruited Nirvana's touring guitarist Pat Smear to fill in on guitar, while Sunny Day Real Estate's Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith were brought in for the rhythm section.
5. Tom Tom Club
Seeing as how Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads are married, it makes perfect sense that they would want to start their own band together, which is what they did in 1981 with their weirdo dance project Tom Tom Club.
6. Scars On Broadway
When System of a Down went on hiatus in 2006, guitarist and lead songwriter Daron Malakian went off and formed a new band called Scars On Broadway. Though Malakian played nearly every instrument on the band's self-titled debut, System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan was brought in to record drums, and also toured with the band.
7. Audioslave
After Rage Against the Machine split up in 2000, the band replaced lead vocalist Zach de la Rocha with Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell to form the considerably less political and less hip-hop-influenced Audioslave. The band lasted for six years, after which Rage Against the Machine reunited.
8. Beady Eye
Although Oasis without guitarist Noel Gallagher may seem like a futile exercise, the other members of the band sure took a shot at it with Beady Eye, which was formed by the remaining members of Oasis after Gallagher quit in 2009.
9 & 10. De Facto/The Mars Volta
Though history may tell you that Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala formed The Mars Volta right after the break-up of their post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, there was actually another band in between the two. In the late '90s, Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala collaborated with the late keyboardist Ikey Owens for a dub reggae group called De Facto, which released two albums in 2001 before splitting up in 2003, when all three formed the Mars Volta.
What are some other bands that were started with former bandmates? Let us know down in the comments section!
