3 Country Bands With No Living Original Members

Some of the greatest bands of all time have since lost the entirety of their original lineup. It’s inevitable, but still quite sad. The following three legendary country bands no longer boast any of their original members, and one of these bands has quite a tragic story behind its original lineup. Let’s take a look.

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1. Lynyrd Skynyrd

The story of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s original lineup is a tragic one. In 1977, just days after the release of the band’s fifth album Street Survivors, a plane carrying the members and some crew crashed in Mississippi. Six people were killed, including members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines. Ronnie Van Zant was an original founding member.

Surviving founding member Gary Rossington passed away in 2023. He remained with the band until the very end. Just as well, founding member Allen Collins, who co-wrote much of the band’s original material, passed away in 1990. Bob Burns passed in 2015, and Larry Junstrom passed in 2019. Sadly, that means that all of the original band members who were part of Lynyrd Skynyrd from the start in 1964 have since passed on. The band still carries on today, with Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny helming the outfit.

2. The Oak Ridge Boys

The Oak Ridge Boys have been a functioning band, without much in the way of breaks, since the 1940s. It’s not exactly surprising that their original members have since passed on.

Specifically, founding Oak Ridge Boys members Curly Kinsey, Lon “Deacon” Freeman, Wally Fowler, and Johnny New have since passed away. Those key members founded the band in 1945 (or 1943, depending on your source). 

The band has evolved significantly through the years, and the current lineup of musicians includes members like Willian Lee Golden, who has been in the band since the 1960s (sans a decade-long hiatus), and Ben James, who joined the band as a tenor recently in 2023.

3. The Carter Family

A pretty obvious entry on our list of country bands with no original members is The Carter Family. This country-folk family band launched way back in 1927 and disbanded in 1956, with a few resurgences via new generations over the years. Naturally, all of their original members are no longer with us.

The original members of the band included A.P. Carter, Maybelle Carter, and Sara Carter. More family members were added to and taken off the lineup through the years. Many of those subsequent members have since passed on as well, including Janette Carter, Helen Carter, and June Carter Cash. Multiple generations have kept The Carter Family name alive, but nothing has been released by the outfit in several years.

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