The 9 most epic band member reunion moments
Sometimes your favorite band breaks up and you’re left without the chance of any new music. Other times, the band parts ways with a member and keeps putting out tracks that may or may not feel the same as before. Full band reunions can be epic, but bringing back a former member permanently or temporarily is on a whole new level. Check out some of the best band member reunion moments below.
SONNY MOORE (FROM FIRST TO LAST)
To most, he’s Skrillex, but to the scene, he will forever be Sonny Moore. While not From First To Last’s original vocalist, Moore became the most noteworthy with 2004’s Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count and 2006’s Heroine to his name. He left in 2007 to pursue a solo career as Skrillex, and has nabbed eight Grammy Awards under the moniker since 2012. FFTL guitarist/vocalist Matt Good moved to lead vocal duties for 2009’s self-titled LP and 2010’s Throne To The Wolves before the band’s hiatus. Good returned to vocals for the band’s 2013 reunion but handed off duties to Periphery’s Spencer Sotelo for 2015’s Kickstarter-funded Dead Trees. Fast-forward to July 2016, when Moore sparked speculation of his return to FFTL when he played a mystery track on his label’s Beats 1 radio show on Apple Music, followed by Mark Hoppus uploading a studio shot with Moore, Good, Travis Barker and producer John Feldmann last month. Two days later, FFTL dropped “Make War,” the first track featuring Moore’s vocals since 2006. As if new music wasn’t exciting enough, Moore returned to the stage with the band at Emo Nite LA earlier this month and confirmed from the Grammys red carpet that while he will continue what he’s doing with Skrillex, he has committed to FFTL.
ZAC FARRO (PARAMORE)
Paramore had three albums (2005’s All We Know Is Falling, 2007’s Riot! and 2009’s Brand New Eyes) under their belt before the Farro brothers, guitarist Josh and drummer Zac, departed the band in 2010. Josh claimed, among other things, that frontwoman Hayley Williams treated the band as her solo project, leading to several he said-she said moments. Paramore remained a three-piece with Jeremy Davis on bass and Taylor York on guitar as they dropped their self-titled LP in 2013, using touring musicians for drums (including Underoath’s Aaron Gillespie). Davis departed in late 2015 before engaging in a legal dispute over his right to a split of the band’s revenue in early 2016. Despite the loss of Davis, Williams and York announced they would continue as Paramore. The band caused some speculation in June 2016 when they uploaded back-to-back images of Williams, York, Zac and self-titled LP producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen grabbing a meal together, followed by a mysterious tweet from the studio declaring “Lunch is over//Making an album.” Zac revealed to Idobi in July that he was asked to drum on Paramore’s fifth full-length but would still be focusing on his own band HalfNoise full time. Despite Zac attempting to clear up his role in the band, Paramore flooded their socials earlier this month with a childhood photo of the drummer captioned with “I’m Back” and a link to their site that sold a shirt with the same image (which has since sold out). Since the release of the shirt, the band have continued posting images with Zac, but no confirmation of his permanent return has been officially announced.
CRAIG OWENS (CHIODOS)
Craig Owens fronted Chiodos from its inception, appearing on 2005’s All’s Well That Ends Well and 2007’s Bone Palace Ballet. In September 2009, the band took to their Myspace to announce they had “let [Owens] go,” just four months after fellow founding member and drummer Derrick Frost had parted ways with the band. The band entered the studio in early 2010 with new drummer Tanner Wayne (ex-Scary Kids Scaring Kids) and vocalist Brandon Bolmer, releasing their third full-length Illuminaudio later that year. Bolmer and Wayne exited the band in March 2012 and Owens returned about a month later, followed by Frost. The reunited lineup played their first show back together in August 2012 at Flint Local 432 in Flint, Michigan (as seen above). Guitarist Jason Hale departed in November and Chiodos tapped former Fall Of Troy frontman Thomas Erak to fill in before adding him officially in January 2013. With their new lineup intact, Chiodos released 2014’s Devil. Then Frost, Erak and bassist Matt Goddard all departed in late 2014, and guitarist Pat McManaman broke their silent hiatus by posting a three-year-old demo in May 2016. Despite Owens reassuring fans the band was just continuing a hiatus when the demo was released, he told Billboard in November that Chiodos is done as he began focusing on his next project, badXchannels.
JOHN NOLAN AND SHAUN COOPER (TAKING BACK SUNDAY)
Taking Back Sunday’s 2002 debut Tell All Your Friends is undeniably a staple in the scene, so it came as a surprise when guitarist/vocalist John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper left the band soon after its release and formed Straylight Run. They were replaced by Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano respectively, and the band went on to release 2004’s Where You Want To Be and 2006’s Louder Now. Mascherino departed in October 2007 to focus on his solo work and was replaced by Matthew Fazzi for the band’s fourth full-length, 2009’s New Again. Rubano and Fazzi left in March 2010 and TBS confirmed Nolan and Cooper’s return the following month. The revived lineup put out the first taste of their reunion, “El Paso,” in March 2011 and their eponymous fifth full-length hit shelves three months later. The band announced a 10-year anniversary tour for Tell All Your Friends (now complete with its original lineup) to wrap up 2012. They released a live acoustic album and documentary film entitled TAYF10: Acoustic as well as live full band concert footage, TAYF10: Live From Starland Ballroom, in 2013. Since then, the band have released two more albums: 2014’s Happiness Is and 2016’s Tidal Wave.
DANNY WORSNOP (ASKING ALEXANDRIA)
Asking Alexandria frontman Danny Worsnop left his mark on the band’s first three releases—2009’s Stand Up And Scream, 2011’s Reckless & Relentless and 2013’s From Death To Destiny. Worsnop announced his departure in January 2015, allowing him to focus on his other project, We Are Harlot, releasing the latter’s debut full-length two months later. Despite a change.org petition requesting Riff Raff fill in for vocal duties on AA’s 2015 Warped Tour run, the band announced the addition of Denis Stoff through the release of “I Won’t Give In” that May. The track later appeared on the band’s fourth full-length, The Black, which dropped in early 2016. Meanwhile, Worsnop discussed specifics behind leaving AA, pointing to the music losing its artistic integrity. Guitarist Ben Bruce responded by questioning his integrity in regards to the vocalist’s upcoming country solo album, The Long Road Home. In September 2016, the duo squashed their beef and mysteriously joined From First To Last guitarist Matt Good in the studio. AA announced the departure of Stoff and the return of Worsnop in October. Worsnop confirmed he would join the band for their 10 Years In The Black tour, which kicked off in Seattle (as seen above). Good then confirmed he was mixing a new track featuring Worsnop, and drummer James Cassells revealed in an interview with KFMX in November that the whole band would be entering the studio. In January 2017, Worsnop posted a clip of a track to his Instagram captioned #AskingAlexandria2017, although he later said it’s unlikely a new album will be released this year.
AARON GILLESPIE (UNDEROATH)
After six albums, Underoath drummer and final original member Aaron Gillespie parted ways with the band in April 2010, allowing him to focus on solo efforts. A month later, the remaining members entered the studio with former Norma Jean drummer Daniel Davison producing what would be Ø (Disambiguation), which was released later that year. In October 2012, the band announced they would be breaking up following the release of a career-spanning compilation, Anthology: 1999–2013, and a farewell tour in January 2013. Underoath wrapped up the tour at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, Florida, bringing back Gillespie to play a few tracks (as seen above). In January 2015, the band announced a crowdfunding campaign for Tired Violence, a documentary about their farewell shows, and successfully released it in May of that year. In July 2015, Underoath posted an image stating “rebirth is coming,” a countdown and a reversed excerpt from “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door” to their website. In August 2015, the band confirmed they would be reuniting with original drummer Gillespie to play Self Help Festival in March 2016. The band then added an appearance at So What?! Music Festival and a full U.S. tour for spring 2016, where they played 2004’s They’re Only Chasing Safety and 2006’s Define The Great Line in their entirety. However, just before that tour kicked off, Underoath gave a two-day notice to a first come, first serve 400-cap show in Ybor City, Florida, marking their first show as a reunited unit. The band announced in November 2016 that they would be hitting the road in March 2017 for a U.S. tour with Bring Me The Horizon and Beartooth.
ANTHONY GREEN (SAOSIN)
As a founding member of Saosin, Anthony Green appeared on their first EP, Translating The Name, in 2003. He left the band in early 2004, and went on to form Circa Survive and the Sound Of Animals Fighting that same year. Saosin recruited Story Of The Year guitarist/vocalist Philip Sneed to fill in for their run on Warped Tour 2004 and added permanent vocalist Cove Reber soon after through a public audition process. The band released two full-lengths with Reber—2006’s self-titled and 2009’s In Search Of Solid Ground—before announcing his departure in July 2010. In August, guitarist Justin Shekoski revealed the reason was Reber’s diminishing ability to perform the songs live to the band’s expectations. In May 2011, Saosin released a demo with Tilian Pearson on vocals, and while he was open to recording with the band, he was never added as an official member and moved on to front Dance Gavin Dance in late 2012. In December 2012, Shekoski and guitarist Beau Burchell joined Green for an acoustic rendition of “Seven Years,” marking the first time Green had sung with Saosin in almost 10 years. The official announcement of Green’s return surfaced in February 2014, when it was revealed he would join Saosin for a performance at the Skate And Surf Festival that May. Two months later, the band announced three more reunion shows following the festival performance and a warm-up performance preceding it (as seen above). After a string of more shows (one of which was attended by Reber), Green joined Saosin for work on a new album in July 2015. In March 2016, the band released “The Silver String,” their first track with Green since the 2003 EP. The track was taken from their third full-length Along The Shadow, which was released later in May that year prior to their stint on the Taste Of Chaos tour alongside Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional and more.
GLENN DANZIG (MISFITS)
Punk mainstays Misfits launched in 1977, fronted by Glenn Danzig. The ever-changing lineup evolved around Danzig and bassist Jerry Only, releasing three EPs and two full-lengths: Walk Among Us and Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood. The latter was released in December 1983, two months after the band played their final show. Danzig went on to form Samhain that same year, followed by eponymous band Danzig in 1987. Several compilations and live albums were released following the Misfits breakup. Only reached out to Danzig about receiving royalties from the sales of these albums, which led to a long legal battle. Only eventually stopped seeking royalties for songwriting credits and turned to focus on rights to the band’s name and imagery. The out-of-court settlement permitted Only and guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein to record and perform as the Misfits. The duo asked Danzig to rejoin the band when they set out to reunite in 1995, but he declined. After an audition, Michale Graves was chosen as the band’s new frontman and first made his mark on 1997’s American Psycho. Graves and drummer Dr. Chud quit the band by storming off stage at House of Blues Orlando in late 2000. Only took over singing duties in 2001 (and become involved in another legal battle with Danzig over trademarks in 2014) until their long-awaited reunion with Danzig at both Riot Fest Denver and Riot Fest Chicago in late 2016—33 years after the band’s initial breakup. Only discussed the idea of a new album and future plans at Riot Fest Chicago, but nothing has been confirmed.
JESSE LEACH (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)
Jesse Leach was the original frontman of Killswitch Engage at their 1999 inception. He appeared on their self-titled debut in 2000 and 2002’s Alive Or Just Breathing before leaving the band that year, citing a battle with depression as his reason. Howard Jones joined as his replacement later that year, making his recorded debut in 2003 on the single “When Darkness Falls” for the soundtrack of the horror flick Freddy Vs. Jason. The single also appeared on Jones’ first full-length with the band, The End Of Heartache, whose title track was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2005. Jones also appeared on 2006’s As Daylight Dies and 2009’s self-titled. All That Remains frontman Philip Labonte filled in for Jones on the band’s spring 2010 tour following his temporary departure for undisclosed reasons. However, at the Irving Plaza stop, Leach made a surprise appearance, performing several tracks with the band (as seen above). Jones later left the band permanently in January 2012, stating his “heart wasn’t in it.” The band opened submissions for a new vocalist a few days after Jones’ departure, but announced in February that Leach had auditioned and would be rejoining the band. Following his return, the band released 2013’s Disarm The Descent (receiving their second Grammy nomination in the same category for “In Due Time”) and 2016’s Incarnate. The band will embark on the Killthrax Tour with Anthrax and the Devil Wears Prada beginning in late March.
