Former Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner recently addressed the growing trend of frequent lineup changes in rock bands. He specifically pointed to Skid Row and The Dead Daisies in a conversation shared by Cassius Morris Official.
Turner reflected on how vocalists appear to move between bands with increasing frequency, comparing the phenomenon to a game of musical chairs. He questioned whether audiences should simply accept it as the new norm.
“But I mean, if you look at what’s happening nowadays where you have Sebastian Bach and Twisted Sister, right? Where you have five or six lead singers in, you know, Skid Row. I mean, every these singers are like playing, what would you say, like chess or something, you know?” Turner said. “They’re showing it all over the different squares with bands, you know. One minute Erik Grönwall is in this band, now he’s in this band, then he’s or somebody’s in that band, and then and it’s incestuous, you know. And will people accept that? And now they’re more accepting. I think of that. It’s almost as if you want to play musical chairs.”
Turner said the pattern can become “more of a circus” when singers are replaced after only a short time, arguing that bands should have the opportunity to write, collaborate and make an album together before deciding whether an arrangement works.
He also cited The Dead Daisies’ shifts between John Corabi and Glenn Hughes as an example. “John Corabi, you know, he’s in Dead Daisies, he’s out of Dead Daisies. He’s, you know, Glenn’s in Dead Daisies. Glenn’s out of Dead Daisies. I mean, what the hell’s going on there?” Turner said.
Turner connected the issue to broader changes in the music business, recalling a promoter’s claim that there are no longer enough true headlining acts and that musicians are increasingly recruited from other bands or solo careers.
Despite his criticism, Turner acknowledged his own experience moving among bands. “Hey, look, I’ve jumped around in bands, you know. I’m a hired gun,” he said, adding that the important thing is still whether artists are making great music.
Turner’s comments carry added perspective given his own career. He joined Deep Purple in 1989, replacing Ian Gillan, and sang on the band’s 1990 album Slaves and Masters before Gillan returned.
Skid Row, meanwhile, has undergone several vocalist changes since Sebastian Bach’s departure in 1996, including tenures by Johnny Solinger, ZP Theart and Erik Grönwall. The band announced Lzzy Hale as its touring singer in 2024 after Grönwall stepped away for health reasons.
