Below are the 20 best “second acts” in music history.
(I've cut this down to 10 with an honorable mention. Full article is here:
http://uproxx.com/music/2015/05/best-second-acts-in-music/
Before we start, it should be noted that these rankings were based on the following criteria:
The musician’s first act should be finished, or, at the very least, on its last legs (artists who have reunited with their first act are fair game).
A degree of difficulty (i.e. changing styles and/or instruments from one act to another).
The second act doesn’t have to be as popular as the first, but it should be close, and preferably should be more popular.
We’re only discussing music here, so musicians who have gone on to successful careers in other mediums — Mark Wahlberg (bad rapper > occasionally good actor), Steven Van Zandt (E Street Band > character actor), and Vanilla Ice (“rapper” > home improvement specialist) — do not qualify.
Now, the rankings…
20. Cee Lo Green (Goodie Mob > Gnarls Barkley > solo)
Green went from hob-nobbing with Outkast in the early ’90s to eventually working with the producer Danger Mouse as the duo Gnarls Barkley, made famous by their hit “Crazy.” Green parlayed his success in Barkley into a revived solo career (see: “You, F*ck”) and a role as judge on the first three seasons of The Voice.
10. Tie: George Harrison (The Beatles > solo), John Lennon (The Beatles > solo)
Leave it to the most talented band ever assembled to spawn four incredibly talented and diverse solo careers. Harrison’s brilliant All Things Must Pass went six-times platinum, and he added another platinum record and six gold ones to his legacy before passing away in 2001. Lennon put out 11 solo albums, including the triple-platinum Double Fantasy and double-platinum Imagine, with another five gold albums. Of course, Lennon’s solo work is also critically lauded, probably moreso than any other post-Beatles career.
9. Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel > solo)
If Simon hadn’t discovered the rhythms of Africa for albums like the five-times platinum Graceland, he still would have had a great career post-Simon & Garfunkel. But, thankfully, he did because it made his later years infinitely more interesting.
8. Jimmy Page (The Yardbirds > Led Zeppelin)
Page essentially jumped from one successful English rock band to another when he left The Yardbirds in 1968 and formed Led Zeppelin shortly after. I would like to point out that guitarists in The Yardbirds are like pitchers for the ’00s Oakland A’s… they just kept producing them (in addition to Page, there’s Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck). Yet, just like the A’s, The Yardbirds were never able to get over that hump and really achieve success, while their most talented players went on to find success in on other projects.
7. Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds > Cream > solo)
Eric Clapton had an amazing run hanging out with super groups, whether it was The Yardbirds, Cream, or Derek and the Dominos. To follow all of that up with a lengthy and legendary solo career is amazing. I’m not a big blues fan, but I can’t get enough of Clapton’s version of “Before You Accuse Me” from his MTV Unplugged appearance. Which brings up another point: Not only did Clapton succeed as a solo artist, he did it in two different styles, starting out as a blistering blues player before taking a detour into a “slowhand” phase, marked most prominently by that Unplugged performance. By the way, that Unplugged album won six Grammys, went diamond (more than 10 million copies sold), is one of the top 100 best-selling albums in U.S. history and helped spread “Tears in Heaven.”
6. Paul McCartney (The Beatles > Wings > solo career)
Winner: Most Successful Post-Beatles Career! I don’t think much more needs to be said about McCartney’s influence. The only reason he’s not higher on this list is the simple fact that it’s really hard to top being in The Beatles; McCartney’s career after that was stellar, but the bar was already set impossibly high. You can only go down after being in probably the most famous, successful and critically beloved group in popular music history.
5. Dr. Dre (N.W.A. > solo > producer)
Even if we’re still waiting for Detox, Dre has done enough here. He followed up his stint in the hugely innovative and influential N.W.A. with a solo career that included the triple-platinum The Chronic, seven-times platinum 2001, and a slew of hit singles. He also went on to mentor Eminem and 50 Cent, both of whom have been so successful, you might have heard of them, too. And while he’s always been known as a brilliant producer, he’s spent the latter days of his career sitting behind the boards on some huge singles, not just from Em and 50, but across popular music.
Oh, and he gets bonus points for becoming a headphone mogul (hey, that’s still technically a music job, right?).
4. Justin Timberlake (NSYNC > solo)
The odds are not good when it comes to finding solo success after being in a boy band, but Justin Timberlake is an outlier. What can I say? He’s a cultural force.
3. Dave Grohl (Nirvana > Foo Fighters)
Grohl is one of the few members of this club to re-invent himself in his second act, stepping out from behind the drums in Nirvana to become the frontman for the Foo Fighters. That’s impressive, especially considering that those are perhaps the two most popular rock bands of the last 25 years. When Kurt Cobain killed himself, it didn’t seem likely that any band, let alone one led by its drummer, could ever match Nirvana’s heights. But commercially, Foo Fighters are the closest rock band this generation has to iconic, long-lasting, stadium-filling status, and their first few albums are critically revered, too.
2. Beyonce (Destiny’s Child > solo)
I can’t be the only one who frequently forgets that Destiny’s Child was a thing, let alone a thing involving Beyonce. I usually just assume she appeared one day. You know, like Superman. Destiny’s Child was a good, popular group, but Beyonce has used her solo career to establish her legacy as one of the most successful musicians ever. She’s the rarest case of an artist being incredibly popular while raising the stakes artistically for herself and everyone else chasing her.
1. Michael Jackson (Jackson Five > solo)
Years from now, we’ll have to convince ourselves that Michael Jackson was a real person and not some kind of figment of our imagination, and the further we get from his career, the crazier it will seem. Putting aside the controversies that followed him and focusing strictly on the music, there will never be a second act like Michael’s.
(I've cut this down to 10 with an honorable mention. Full article is here:
http://uproxx.com/music/2015/05/best-second-acts-in-music/
Before we start, it should be noted that these rankings were based on the following criteria:
The musician’s first act should be finished, or, at the very least, on its last legs (artists who have reunited with their first act are fair game).
A degree of difficulty (i.e. changing styles and/or instruments from one act to another).
The second act doesn’t have to be as popular as the first, but it should be close, and preferably should be more popular.
We’re only discussing music here, so musicians who have gone on to successful careers in other mediums — Mark Wahlberg (bad rapper > occasionally good actor), Steven Van Zandt (E Street Band > character actor), and Vanilla Ice (“rapper” > home improvement specialist) — do not qualify.
Now, the rankings…
20. Cee Lo Green (Goodie Mob > Gnarls Barkley > solo)
Green went from hob-nobbing with Outkast in the early ’90s to eventually working with the producer Danger Mouse as the duo Gnarls Barkley, made famous by their hit “Crazy.” Green parlayed his success in Barkley into a revived solo career (see: “You, F*ck”) and a role as judge on the first three seasons of The Voice.
10. Tie: George Harrison (The Beatles > solo), John Lennon (The Beatles > solo)
Leave it to the most talented band ever assembled to spawn four incredibly talented and diverse solo careers. Harrison’s brilliant All Things Must Pass went six-times platinum, and he added another platinum record and six gold ones to his legacy before passing away in 2001. Lennon put out 11 solo albums, including the triple-platinum Double Fantasy and double-platinum Imagine, with another five gold albums. Of course, Lennon’s solo work is also critically lauded, probably moreso than any other post-Beatles career.
9. Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel > solo)
If Simon hadn’t discovered the rhythms of Africa for albums like the five-times platinum Graceland, he still would have had a great career post-Simon & Garfunkel. But, thankfully, he did because it made his later years infinitely more interesting.
8. Jimmy Page (The Yardbirds > Led Zeppelin)
Page essentially jumped from one successful English rock band to another when he left The Yardbirds in 1968 and formed Led Zeppelin shortly after. I would like to point out that guitarists in The Yardbirds are like pitchers for the ’00s Oakland A’s… they just kept producing them (in addition to Page, there’s Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck). Yet, just like the A’s, The Yardbirds were never able to get over that hump and really achieve success, while their most talented players went on to find success in on other projects.
7. Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds > Cream > solo)
Eric Clapton had an amazing run hanging out with super groups, whether it was The Yardbirds, Cream, or Derek and the Dominos. To follow all of that up with a lengthy and legendary solo career is amazing. I’m not a big blues fan, but I can’t get enough of Clapton’s version of “Before You Accuse Me” from his MTV Unplugged appearance. Which brings up another point: Not only did Clapton succeed as a solo artist, he did it in two different styles, starting out as a blistering blues player before taking a detour into a “slowhand” phase, marked most prominently by that Unplugged performance. By the way, that Unplugged album won six Grammys, went diamond (more than 10 million copies sold), is one of the top 100 best-selling albums in U.S. history and helped spread “Tears in Heaven.”
6. Paul McCartney (The Beatles > Wings > solo career)
Winner: Most Successful Post-Beatles Career! I don’t think much more needs to be said about McCartney’s influence. The only reason he’s not higher on this list is the simple fact that it’s really hard to top being in The Beatles; McCartney’s career after that was stellar, but the bar was already set impossibly high. You can only go down after being in probably the most famous, successful and critically beloved group in popular music history.
5. Dr. Dre (N.W.A. > solo > producer)
Even if we’re still waiting for Detox, Dre has done enough here. He followed up his stint in the hugely innovative and influential N.W.A. with a solo career that included the triple-platinum The Chronic, seven-times platinum 2001, and a slew of hit singles. He also went on to mentor Eminem and 50 Cent, both of whom have been so successful, you might have heard of them, too. And while he’s always been known as a brilliant producer, he’s spent the latter days of his career sitting behind the boards on some huge singles, not just from Em and 50, but across popular music.
Oh, and he gets bonus points for becoming a headphone mogul (hey, that’s still technically a music job, right?).
4. Justin Timberlake (NSYNC > solo)
The odds are not good when it comes to finding solo success after being in a boy band, but Justin Timberlake is an outlier. What can I say? He’s a cultural force.
3. Dave Grohl (Nirvana > Foo Fighters)
Grohl is one of the few members of this club to re-invent himself in his second act, stepping out from behind the drums in Nirvana to become the frontman for the Foo Fighters. That’s impressive, especially considering that those are perhaps the two most popular rock bands of the last 25 years. When Kurt Cobain killed himself, it didn’t seem likely that any band, let alone one led by its drummer, could ever match Nirvana’s heights. But commercially, Foo Fighters are the closest rock band this generation has to iconic, long-lasting, stadium-filling status, and their first few albums are critically revered, too.
2. Beyonce (Destiny’s Child > solo)
I can’t be the only one who frequently forgets that Destiny’s Child was a thing, let alone a thing involving Beyonce. I usually just assume she appeared one day. You know, like Superman. Destiny’s Child was a good, popular group, but Beyonce has used her solo career to establish her legacy as one of the most successful musicians ever. She’s the rarest case of an artist being incredibly popular while raising the stakes artistically for herself and everyone else chasing her.
1. Michael Jackson (Jackson Five > solo)
Years from now, we’ll have to convince ourselves that Michael Jackson was a real person and not some kind of figment of our imagination, and the further we get from his career, the crazier it will seem. Putting aside the controversies that followed him and focusing strictly on the music, there will never be a second act like Michael’s.
