One thing we learned from history, movies, and fantasy stories that death is not the end of the road. Take it from this musicians who, at some point, lost their way and almost ended their career. We look back at these Musicians Careers That Were Resurrected:
Roky Erickson
The story of Roky Erickson is that of one of the few rock geniuses who has not been engulfed by the mainstream. Namely; we have great hangers-on like Jim Morrison, Dave Gahan, Pete Doherty… and the list could be endless. But few know the leader of the legendary 13th Floor Elevators, and his band was almost as big as his madness.
New York Dolls
In the year 2015 they published the direct “Butterflyin’” (2015), an LP with a performance from 1974 opened with the song “Puss ‘N’ Boots”. Later they released “Personality Crisis” (2018), 5 CDs with live recordings and demos recorded between 1972 and 1975. In 2018, the direct “Live From Royal Festival Hall” (2018) also appeared, which includes a performance from 2004; and her song “Bad Girls” was included in “Driven By Rock – 100 Essentials Driving Songs” (2018), 5 CDs released by Universal.
The Stooges
In 2007, a new Stooges album appeared, “The Weirdness” (2007), an album produced by Steve Albini in which Mike Watt, ex-Minutemen, appeared on bass as an official member of the band. In 2010 they entered the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. A few years later they published “Ready To Die” (2013). Ron Asheton, who formed the hard rock group The New Order in the 1970s, died in Ann Harbor after a heart attack on January 6, 2009. He was 60 years old. Five years later his brother Scott passed away, who died of the same cause and also in Ann Harbor on March 15, 2014. He was 64 years old.
Bob Dylan
One of the great musical geniuses of the 20th century and one of the fundamental figures for the sound and lyrical development of genres as diverse as folk, blues, country, rock and pop. In 2020, he released the single “Murder Most Foul”, a long song about the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Shortly after, the same year, another single titled “I Contain Multitudes” and the album “Rough And Rowdy Ways” (2020) appeared.
Fleetwood Mac
If any formation in the history of pop-rock has drastically modified its sound, it is Fleetwood Mac. At that time, two characters of remarkable pop sensibility were incorporated, influenced by the Beatles and the Beach Boys, who were basic in the commercial development of the group, Stevie Nicks (born May 26, 1948 in Phoenix) and Lindsey Buckingham (born October 3, 1948 in Palo Alto), who had previously recorded as a duo as Buckingham Nicks a self-titled album in 1973. The album “Fleetwood Mac” (1975), their tenth studio album with songs like “Warm Ways”, “Over My Head” or “Say You Love Me”, revived the success of the first Fleetwood, elevating them to the top of the charts. the charts, since they managed to repeat with the already legendary LP “Rumors” (1977), a work that contains songs like “Go Your Own Way”, “Dreams”, “Second Hand News”, “You Make a Loving Fun”, “The Chain” or “Don’t Stop” and that sold millions of copies all over the world.
KISS
One of the great rock symbols of the 1970s, KISS, went beyond the strictly musical realm to become a teenage social phenomenon with sound roots in hard rock and glam, spectacular concerts full of pyrotechnics and attractive comic book-influenced aesthetics. and the aforementioned glam rock. “Creatures Of The Night” (1982), a respectable album that also failed to return to KISS’s previous commercial level, quite the opposite of “Lick It Up” (1983), the work that resurrected their career was an album in which they appeared for the first time without makeup.
Eagles
It is one of the most successful groups in the United States, having sold around 150 million albums and singles around the globe. In 1976, they underwent line-up changes, for example, Bernie Leadon was replaced by Joe Walsh. Another very important highlight: In 1980, the band won six Grammy Awards. As time went by, more changes happened… Other members joined: Joe Vitale, on keyboards and bassist and vocalist, Timothy B. Schmitt, in place of Randy Meisner. The most famous album is ”Hotel California”, released in 1977. Altogether, they have 7 studio albums, which hit the market between 1972 and 2007. And 9 compilations, among them, ”Their Greatest Hits, with songs between 1971 and 1975, which sold over 40 million copies worldwide.
The Allman Brothers Band
Legendary American formation of the 70’s, epitome of southern rock for its emotional mixture of styles based on the roots of American music. Subsequent efforts such as “Reach For The Sky” (1980) and “Brothers On The Road” (1981) were artistic and commercial disappointments, leading to another breakup in 1982. In 1989, the Allman Brothers returned to the fray with the highly esteemed “Seven Turns” (1990), an excellent album that featured new guitarist Warren Haynes, bassist Allen Woody, and keyboardist Johnny Neel.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Together with the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd is the most important group that southern rock has known, a musical style based on the emulsion of blues rock, country, boogie, honky tonk and rock’n’roll, and on a personal attitude that underlines its telluric-confederate roots, with a claiming and playful purpose. “Street Survivors” (1977), an album that originally featured the band engulfed in flames on its cover. This phenomenal album, with great songs like “You Got The Right”, “That Smell”, “I Know a Little” or “What’s Your Name?”, had to change its cover when a few days after its appearance on the market, on October 20, 1977 (the LP had hit stores on October 17), Ronnie Van Zant (age 29), Steve Gaines (age 28), Cassie Gaines (29), and manager Din Kilpatrick died at cause of a plane crash when the group was flying from Greenville to Baton Rouge. This blow was definitive for the dissolution of the band, because without his compositional alma mater there was no point in continuing his musical career as Lynyrd Skynyrd. Commemorating ten years since the tragic accident that put an end to the band, Gary Rossington, Ed King, Leon Wilkeson and Billy Powell returned to tour under the name of Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour, joining the band Ronnie’s younger brother, Johnny Van Zant and a third guitarist named Randall Hall. These concerts were the gem of the live double LP “Southern By The Grace Of God” (1988).
Aerosmith
Emerging at the beginning of the 70’s, the Aerosmith group knew how to overcome the first contempt of the critics of the time, who disparagingly compared them as a weak imitation of the British Rolling Stones, and offer very respectable records that made them a of the most commercially successful hard rock bands in history. Aerosmith had a surprise hit, when rap group Run DMC resurrected “Walk This Way”; Perry and Tyler participated in the new version. The group’s next album was Permanent Vacation (1987), produced by Bruce Fairbairn, which included the hit single “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” and a cover of “I’m Down” by Lennon and McCartney. After changing record companies to Geffen, they charted in 1989 with “Love in an Elevator” from the album Pump.