Readers’ Poll: 10 Rock Bands You Hope to See Reunite
LCD Soundsystem and Guns N' Roses may be back together, but there's still a very long list of bands that remain split. Some ended by mutual decision after decades on the road, while others imploded just a few years after reforming and haven't even been in the same room for decades. It seems to be a rock & roll rule that every band that can conceivably reform will do so at some point in the future — even if they pull a Led Zeppelin or a Pink Floyd and only do it for a single night. We asked our readers to select the bands they hope to see reunite in the near future. Here are the results.
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The Black Crowes
By this point, fans of the Black Crowes understand that the group is in a comfortable routine that'll probably last until the day one of them dies. They tour for a few years, realize they still despise each other, break up, make much less money on their own, go on a reunion tour for a few years, realize they still hate each other and so on and so forth. It's the circle of life for the Black Crowes. They did a whopping 120 shows in 2013, which should have given them a nice little wad of cash. Once it starts running low, expect to see another reunion. It should be any year now.
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Pink Floyd
When Pink Floyd reformed with Roger Waters at Live 8 in the summer of 2005, all four members of the classic 1970s lineup were alive, making some sort of a real reunion seem remotely plausible. Two years later, keyboardist Richard Wright died, ending any real chance of a Floyd reunion. “All things must pass,” David Gilmour told Rolling Stone last year. “All things must come to an end. I don’t want to go back there. I’ve done it.” We tried to ask Roger Waters for his feelings on the matter last year, but were barely able to get the question out before he began screaming. “Why don’t you just ask me my favorite fucking color?” he said. “You know, this can’t get any more dumb than that. Everybody knows the answer. And everybody asks the question again and again! It’s just so dumb. I’m sorry to get testy.” Let us translate: This one ain’t happening.
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Genesis
About 12 years ago, the Peter Gabriel-lead lineup of Genesis held a secret meeting where they discussed playing their first shows since a one-off reunion in 1982. Unsurprisingly, talks fell apart when Gabriel got cold feet and walked away. The Phil Collins-lead lineup of 1976-1993 decided to reunite instead, launching a highly successful tour in 2007. Gabriel remains as uninterested as ever in a reunion, and Collins is still unable to play drums due to nerve damage. Optimism remains since Collins has recently "un-retired." He plans on focusing on his solo career first, but he's not willing to completely rule out more Genesis activity after that. Odds aren't great here, but there is some hope.
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Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine were the Guns N' Roses of 2007 when they shocked their fans by reuniting at Coachella. No new music was released, but they did a few more shows that year and played festivals all over the world in 2008 and 2010. They last played at a one-off in the summer of 2011, and nothing has been said since. So it makes it seem as if more gigs are coming. "We are still a band, and we still might play again," Rage bassist Tim Commerford told Rolling Stone last year. "We don't have anything scheduled right now, but you never know what the future will bring." Might they reunite at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? "I think it's pretty obvious," Commerford said. "I think there's somebody who's going to show up and somebody who's not going to show up and maybe somebody who's going to show up with an enema filled with food coloring and shit all over the red carpet."
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The Kinks
About a month ago, Ray Davies joined his brother Dave Davies onstage at a London solo show to perform "You Really Got Me." It was the first time they shared a stage since the Kinks broke up in 1996. That seems to bode well for a reunion and both parties say they're open to such a thing, but their 50th anniversary came and went without any sort of tour and nothing seems to be in the pipeline. There's also the small matter of drummer Mick Avory. Ray wants him to be a part of a reunion, but Dave has been somewhat ambivalent about the matter. That said, if Ray and Dave stay healthy over the next five years, this seems inevitable.
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R.E.M.
R.E.M.'s breakup in 2011 was about as peaceful as these things get. "We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished," they said in a statement. "To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." Two years later, Mike Mills told Rolling Stone not to expect a reunion. "The idea of breaking up and not reforming for a reunion tour is kind of attractive to us," he said. "I doubt you'll see us touring as R.E.M. again." Michael Stipe has been dipping his toes back into music by serving as Patti Smith's surprise opening act on her Horses anniversary tour, so perhaps there's a tiny chance he'll get the urge to reform R.E.M. at some future point — but it feels unlikely.
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Oasis
Considering just how much money Oasis would make playing European stadiums if they reformed and the relative young age of the Gallagher brothers, it seems almost inevitable it'll happen at some point. But Noel Gallagher has been pretty consistent with saying he has no desire to do it. "I think it’s ingrained in the English psyche — this idea that the glory days, the Empire, are behind us," he said a couple of years ago. "Led Zeppelin! The Smiths! The Jam! They should all re-form! Why? So a load of middle-aged people can stand in the O2 and go, 'They’re not as good as they used to be.' It'd be the same with Oasis. 'Yeah, we’re not as good as we used to be.' "
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The Smiths
Even the most stubborn bands are usually willing to put aside their differences for a single night. Led Zeppelin played the 02 Arena in 2007, Pink Floyd played Live 8 in 2005 and the surviving members performed at a Roger Waters gig in 2011. David Byrne was even willing to reunite Talking Heads at the Hall of Fame in 2002. The lone exception here might be the Smiths. Morrissey isn't one to forgive people very easily. He's still mad at Johnny Marr for splitting up the band in the first place, and his rage at drummer Mike Joyce over suing the band in the 1990s for a broader share of band earnings can barely be described in words. He despises him like few people on the planet despise anybody. This band is never getting back together. That said, 10 years from now, if someone backs up a dump truck full of money in front of Morrissey's house…Stranger things have happened. Not many though.
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Talking Heads
The Talking Heads didn't officially break up until 1991, but by that point they hadn't played a legit show in seven years. The group died a slow and painful death, since frontman David Byrne decided he wanted to make every decision, eventually realizing a solo career was the best way to make that happen. The remaining members attempted to tour without him as Heads in the mid-1990s, but without Byrne, they couldn't drum up much interest. Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison and Chris Frantz would launch a Talking Heads tour tomorrow if David Byrne gave the OK, but for now, they're stuck waiting by the phone. Hopefully one day Byrne will call. He's an unpredictable guy, so with this one there might be a small degree of hope.
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Led Zeppelin
Has there been a bigger tease in rock history than Led Zeppelin's 2007 reunion at London's 02 Arena? They spent months rehearsing an elaborate stage show, and then promptly broke up again as soon as it was over. The timing was pretty lousy as Robert Plant's collaborative album with Alison Krauss became a shock hit during the rehearsal process, selling millions of copies and finally giving the Zeppelin frontman the solo success he always dreamed of. He bid Jimmy and John Paul farewell and hit the road with Krauss. The remaining members briefly considered touring without him, bringing in Steven Tyler and Myles Kennedy to rehearse, but they eventually came to their senses. Sadly, Zeppelin's reunion lasted a mere two hours.