Key Takeaways

• Missed Opportunities: Many musicians left their bands just before they became famous.
• Notable Example: Pete Best is often cited as a prime example of this phenomenon.
• Other Cases: Several members from iconic bands like The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd also faced similar fates.
• Aftermath: While some faded into obscurity, others, like Best, found a way to benefit from their past associations.

Imagine leaving a rock band before they got famous? That’s what happened to all of these musicians.

No one in rock history has come to symbolize an opportunity missed quite like Pete Best. Left behind by the Beatles before they became international stars, his name always seems to pop up when someone suffers a similar fate.

But as shown on the following list of rock’s most memorable pre-fame departures, he’s hardly the only one in music history who just missed out on the spotlight. Best was soon seeing quite relatable headlines about former members of The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and The Who. History continued to repeat itself, even into the ’90s with Nirvana.

The Beatles hired Best in a rush just days before they were to leave for a 48-night stand at the India Club in Hamburg, Germany. (It helped that his mother also owned a Liverpool live music space.) The group honed their skills for two years with Best, but he never made it onto their studio debut. Instead, Ringo Starr had permanently taken over.

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They’d been turned down by Decca Records with Best in the lineup. After finally signing with Parlophone in 1962, producer George Martin was also unhappy with their initial sessions. He recommended using a session drummer instead and Best was summarily fired.

The Beatles shot to international fame while Best returned to lead local bands back in Liverpool. He attempted to take his own life at the peak of Beatlemania but thankfully lived to see a huge royalty check when material from his time with the group was included on 1995’s eight-times platinum Anthology I compilation.

Unfortunately, many of the others on this countdown of rock’s most memorable pre-fame departures weren’t afforded the same fairytale ending. In fact, most of them disappeared into complete obscurity.