Top 10 Rumored Band Member Replacements that Didn't Happen
Colin Trevor "Cozy" Powell was an English rock drummer, who made his name with many major rock bands and artists like The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Robert Plant, Whitesnake and Black Sabbath. Rumored as a possible replacement of John Bonham after John's death (before Zeppelin officially disbanded)
Michael Kiske is a singer best known as the former lead vocalist for the German power metal band Helloween. After Bruce Dickinson departed from Iron Maiden in 1993, Kiske was rumored to be Dickinson's replacement but (sadly) the position was filled by Blaze Bayley.
David "Dave" Lombardo is a Cuban American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. In 2014 he was rumored to be Shawn Drover's replacement in Megadeth, when Shawn departed
Myles Richard Kennedy is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge, and as the lead vocalist in Slash's current band: Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators. He auditioned with Led Zeppelin when Jimmy Page was going to continue the band without Robert Plant.
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce was a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter known primarily for his contributions to the British supergroup Cream, which also included guitarist-singer Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker. Jimmy Page asked Jack Bruce to join Led Zep after the 1973 tour because John Paul Jones wasn't happy with touring. So this replacement was rumored but didn't happen.
Douglas "Doogie" White (born 7 March 1960) is a Scottish rock/metal vocalist, who has sung for Rainbow, La Paz, Midnight Blue, Cornerstone, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Praying Mantis and Rata Blanca . He is currently the vocalist for the Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock, his original band La Paz and Demon's Eye . In the 90s he had auditioned for Iron Maiden, losing out to Blaze Bayley . He was rumored to be Bruce Dickinson's replacement in Iron Maiden. He auditioned with them but (sadly) lost out to Blaze Bayley.
Ralf Scheepers is the vocalist for German heavy metal band Primal Fear. He has a relatively high-pitched tenor-esque singing voice and sometimes uses a shriek reminiscent of Judas Priest's Rob Halford, although it is his baritone lows which give him a near four-octave range in the modal register. He was rumored to be Rob Halford's replacement in Judas Priest - he auditioned but lost out to Tim Ripper Owens.
Michael Bolotin, known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those he recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. I guess there were many rumors after Dio's departure from Black Sabbath in the early 80s. Michael Bolton was one of the names.
The best part:
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath claims that Bolton even auditioned with Black Sabbath for the job.
Michael Bolton denies doing that.
I don't know who's memory is better but there's one thing that is documented: Michael Bolton toured with Black Sabbath at the time, with his hard rock band Blackjack.
Lita Rossana Ford is an English-born American rock guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, who was the lead guitarist for The Runaways in the late 1970s, an all-female rock band formed by Joan Jett and Sandy West. In the 1980s Lita Ford embarked on a solo career. In the mid-80s there were rumors of Lita Ford singing for Black Sabbath when she was dating Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath's leader).
How she ended up singing a duet with Ozzy, who was kicked out of the band, is a mystery. Or revenge (Lita and Tony broke up).
Her song with Ozzy was: Close My Eyes Forever, 1988
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen (January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was a Dutch-American musician, songwriter, producer, and inventor. He was best known as the lead guitarist, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. According to Gene Simmons' book, Eddie Van Halen lobbied to be Ace Frehley's replacement in Kiss.
Megan Martha "Meg" White is an American drummer known for her work with Jack White in the Detroit rock duo The White Stripes. A joke rumor swirled following Neil Peart’s retirement from Rush in 2015 that Meg was gonna replace him.
Of course, this was all a joke. The mere idea that the mind behind the simple seven nation army drumming was going to replace the mind behind the ever complex rhythms of Tom Sawyer and 2112 was ludicrous.