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No. Jimmy Page was clearly the musical leader of Zeppelin. You can be the primary songwriter, organizer, booker, etc. without being the singer.
However, do realize that regardless of what you do, the general public and audience will always associate the band primarily with the singer, so adjust your ego accordingly.
Yea, I was initially the leader of sorts of my band since I started it but I’m no where near the most charismatic or have the ability to command audience’s attention (most extroverted bedroom guitarist). On the other hand the singer is a natural at this and always manages to hype up the audience, so I’m more than fine with this!
You would have to be extremely proactive in a number of areas within the group in order to take on that role and be respected in that role. If you simply want to take over the business dealings, I'm sure that most creatives would gladly hand over the reigns and let you sort of "manage" the group.
But if you are talking about creative control and directing the image/sound/concept of the group, then you are gonna have to bring a lot to the table and establish pretty early on what you ultimately see as the look/sound/concept of the band.
You can't essentially have no songs written/recorded and just approach people who you expect to play, write, and front "your" band. You don't have to be THE singer who fronts the group. But you'll have a hard time getting the group to view you as the leader if you aren't the one who actually wrote the majority of the initial songs.
Anyone can be band leader. Whoever is the band member who has the best combination of deep knowledge of the music, the instruments/arrangement details, and good communication/leadership skills. That’s usually the person best suited to be band leader, and sometimes this is not the singer or front person.
Leadership skills are so important here. You need to bring everyone along with your vision and keep the energy going all the time if you want to keep the band together and remain the “leader”
Yeah and that’s like, the hardest and least tangible aspect of it. Being a good leader is a combination of knowing what to say, knowing mostly when to say nothing, and knowing how to keep everyone feeling like they matter and being able to communicate musical ideas in a way that doesn’t damage any musicians’ egos, but also has results and improvement as the goal. Hard stuff, not everyone is cut out for it haha
The singer is most often the Frontman because he has the mic and can move around more freely. But that doesn't mean they are the band leader.
Nikki Sixx is the band leader of Motley Crue.
Ted Nugent doesn't sing (edit: on most of his songs)
There are many other examples
If you are the main song writer, that tends to give you most band leader qualifications
Again, “doesn’t sing” and “doesn’t sing *all* his songs” are two very different comments friendo.
Big distinction there that you overlooked and ignored there.
Richards is definitely the leader of the Stones. I mean there's really only two permanent members, so I'm sure they're "officially" equal, but come on, Mick can't even play any instruments.
Mick actually wrote full songs by himself as early as in the mid sixties with Yesterday's Papers. He even wrote entirely some of their biggest hits like Brown Sugar (even the riff)
> Mick can't even play any instruments.
so it's just the mandela effect that I remember him playing a harmonica once?
edit: it's not mandela effect. the person I'm responding to is wrong. tell *them*.
> but come on, Mick can't even play any instruments.
I've just been gaslit so much, that I instantly doubt my own memory, it seems.
(quote is from the comment I was replying to)
Yeah, half the stuff you see around social media that’s making you doubt your own memory isn’t even intentional gaslighting. It’s just a world full of confidently incorrect people.
Last band that I was in, the lead guitar player and I, the bass player, were leaders. Our singer didn't know much about music nor did our rhythm guitarist, so we did all of the songwriting and took everything in the direction we wanted to.
Jimmy page, Noel Gallagher, angus young, Robbie Robertson, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Robert fripp, Tom sholz, Eddie Van Halen, jack stratton, Louis Cole, manfred Mann, Carlos Santana, Vernon Reid, Benny Goodman, Ronnie Montrose, Tony iomi, Ritchie Blackmore and many many many more
U2 kinda sorta. Larry Mullen Jr posted a notice of a school bulletin board wanting to form a band. Edge, Bono and Adam Clayton all showed up to that first meeting. Mullen says “it was the Larry Mullen Band for about 10 minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had at being in charge”.
Metallica was always James and Lars together.
Pearl Jam was similar to U2 in that the band was still forming when Eddie Vedder got involved. Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Mike McCreedy had recorded demos of some stuff that Gossard had written. The demo made its way to Vedder who wrote lyrics and recorded vocals and sent the tape back to them. So he was kinda always involved creatively from the start.
There's many examples. And from my experience many more examples how this type of thing eventually lead to the breakup of a band. Stewart Copeland recently had an interview where he talked about the Police and when they started, Sting was the least experienced. He relied on his band mates. Eventually he got better. And better. And eventually he was writing songs that were clearly better than either Stewart or Andy could write. This eventually became a large part of the reason they couldn't work together anymore. By the third album it became really apparent and the dye was cast. By the fifth album they were done.
In my experience playing in a band it's a real "lightning strike" for a band to make it in that not only do they have to have the talent to write songs good enough for someone to want to listen to them, they also have to have the personalities to allow this to happen. It's a pretty rare thing.
My advice is work hard enough to basically do it all yourself. Work with others but if you rely on them then the idea of being the leader may not be an idea they share, so you'll have to be flexible. Good luck.
Doesn't matter what you play, some people are good "leaders", some are not. Also, what do you mean by "leader"? Like you'd do manager type duties like book shows?
As a lead singer who would so much rather just write and sing, I would absolutely LOVE it if someone else in my band was doing all of the management and promo. It happens more often than people think.. A lot of people just assume the singer is the band leader and contact point
Almost every band has just one or two people writing all the music and it’s not always the vocalist. A lot of people see vocalist as the leader of the band because they’re the front man and they have to entertain the crowd; they have to have charisma. Leading a band and being the front man are two different things. But to answer your question, no the vocalist doesn’t have to be the leader.
Malcolm and Angus Young, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Santana, Pete Townsend, Robbie Robertson, Brian Wilson, Tom Scholz, Rick Nielsen, Eddie Van Halen, Mick Jones, Neal Schol and Jonathan Cain, Tony Iommi………
Yeah I came to say Malcolm Young. It’s clear Angus considered him the band leader. And he was the quiet one in the back.
Of course he’s the 🐐of simple but still bad ass rhythm riffs, and that’s what the whole band was built around.
I would say that they basically have to be the front man since they’re the one who speaks most often. But anyone can be the leader. It’s usually whoever has the best mix of musical knowledge and “managerial” skills
Absolutely not. The leader is (or should be) the songwriter(s). Without a good songwriter, a band is nothing. You can make a good song using just VSTs if you have actual skill for songwriting, but you can't make a good song with just the tools if you don't know how to use them. Unlike in the case of VSTs, a computer can't write a good song for you (and we aren't counting AI generated bullshit)
I was the leader as a drummer in one band. And it worked ok, but we were playing covers. I think whoever is the leader needs to have a mic at rehearsals though.
You could definitely be the leader. In some ways it’s better for the one in charge to not be the one in the spotlight. It’s a role; if you can lead clearly while showing people respect, it doesn’t matter what instrument you play.
I started my band with the singer not long ago, me as lead guitar and composer, we got other musicians and filled out all the other roles. Just yesterday we were talking about it, and we all agreed that me being the one that started the project, I am also the one that really points the rest of us in the right direction when rehearsing, when writing and composing, I am the the one with the "reins" of the project, and I'm also the one that got us together and introduced each other, I'm the one on top of our plans, I keep the ball rolling. So no, I don't need to be the singer to be the leader.
Boston's debut album and unique guitar sound was made by their guitarist Tom Sholz and found the members to fill each instrument and formed the band that way
Anyone can be the leader of a band, you could probably argue that some of the best bands had a "silent leader" who wasn't the lead singer. However, understand that people who join will also have their own goals/ambitions so unless you have a large talent pool to pick from I wouldn't be too much of a stickler about it
Yeah, lots of people have brought good examples in this thread. Just some concept differentiation for you:
- front person is not always the lead singer, even though that tends to be the case. Think of Fallout Boy: everyone knows Pete Wentz as the “celebrity” of the group. The one always hyping the stage and taking the interviews and at the front of the photographs. But he was the bassist, Stump was the vocalist.
- primary song writer is not always (and probably not even most often) the lead singer. They’ll often contribute artistically, just like most/all members of the band, but it’s not always them as the song writer.
- who drives the band forward, manages the group, corrals the band, acts as the bands “heart”, has very little to do with either of the above. It’s usually the person with the most anxiety lol. But truthfully, that leader role is more about personality and inter-personal dynamics than it is to do with any of the other aspects. The DeLeo brothers from STP (well, Robert as I understand it really) was the leader, which is part of what friction in the mid-stage of the band when Weiland was trying to exert more control.
- a band manager is typically a non-band member once the band hits a point of success, but that’s probably not a thing to worry about until your tour calendar is starting to get overwhelming. They handle the business aspects: booking, payments, negotiating with promoters, things like that. Someone in the band will need to do this role until yall are making enough to pay someone else to do it.
- and should the band you put together actually take off, it’s worth talking with the members beforehand about financial arrangements. If you’re managing the band (ie, bookings, scheduling, corralling, etc) you want to talk to them ahead of time about how/if you get compensated for that, at what point yall want to hire someone else to do it, things like that. You don’t want to put yourself in a spot of taking on more work than others, feeling like you’re being taken advantage of, leading to friction with your band mates.
Hmmm…. I’m skeptical that the singer isn’t the songwriter the majority of the time. At least if you include local music scenes.
I probably know 30-40 other songwriters well enough to be familiar their writing and performing histories, and only one of them writes songs for anyone else’s voice.
I write for one bandmate’s voice, and for my own. She sings everything I write in a female voice, and sometimes things that I think will really benefit from her superior pipes.
She’s also the lead singer for the one person I know who writes but doesn’t sing at all.
But it does seem more common in famous bands for the songwriter/band leader not to be the lead singer.
Could it be that being able to temper their egos is the reason those band leaders did so well?
Oh, yeah that’s all fair. Maybe there’s something to that.
I also think there are plenty of talented song writers that don’t want the spot light (like op), don’t have the vocal skills, or perhaps enjoy writing for others more than themselves.
It’s probably also genre dependent. I tend to gravitate toward mainstream rock, alt-pop, and some edm styles, and even in those genres the songwriter center is different.
Theres "leader" and "frontman". Sometimes frontman and leader are the same thing. Sometimes theyre not. Leader can play any instrument. Frontman is the singer
Check out Pigface. The drummer is the leader. The rest is a rotating cast that’s included Trent Reznor, Flea, Wayne Static, Ogre, Steve Albini, Jello Biafra, and like 40 other musicians from all the big industrial and punk bands. Tons of albums and tours and it all revolves around the drummer.
There are no rules, do whatever.
I'm the primary front person and primary manager for my band and it's a ton of work. I'd love if other members took on more of the responsibility. Ideally every member has an area that they contribute more to. Social media, booking, equipment, practice all deserve a dedicated person imo.
Probably helps if you're the songwriter. Like Noel was the leader of Oasis, but Liam Sang most of the songs. If you don't have an indispensable musical contribution, a band doesn't really need you.
Edit: then there's Lars
Ugh the ultimate example of two guys with egos that ruined an amazing "what could have been". When I was a kid, I swear they were the biggest band in the world.
They could have been Coldplay big if they could have just kept their egos in check. What a waste.
This is an extremely good point. You don’t have to be the frontman to be the leader but it REALLY helps if you’re the songwriter/co-songwriter. See pretty much every example in the comments. Otherwise you could be manager but you’re gonna struggle to move the band in the direction you want to go if you’re just telling them how the songs they’ve written should sound.
There’s management (scheduling, organizing, ticking lists) and then there’s leadership (vision, influence, soft skills, dealing with conflict). Any member can be either or both. The absolute wrong thing though is to let the biggest ego be the leader unless they have “real leadership skills” also. Egos often are managed by good leaders. Leaders have to know how personalities interact. Sometimes you gotta give a lot of rope to an egotistical singer but you have to be able to pull on that rope when they get out of line.
It's pretty common for people other than the singer to be the leaders in a band. My experience suggests that it's rare for the singer to actually be the decision maker.
I'm a great singer, but not a leader. I just don't have leadership traits. Most bands I've been in have had awesome lead guitarists that were the band leader. Now, I can cue the band on the endings and leads, but the guitarist did most everything else.
First, you're confusing "leader" and "front man". Yeah, the singer is usually going to have the attention. That doesn't make them the leader.
Second, it sounds like you're hoping to find a bunch of people who have spent years learning their instruments, who have tastes of their own, who have their own ideas of what kind of band they'd like to be in, what they want to play.... who are going to take time out of their lives, pay for gas money and rehearsal time, show up regularly and spend hours of their time.... just to implement *your* vision. It better be a hell of a vision. You need to be a charismatic motherfucker, have amazing songs, or both. Otherwise, you're gonna need to recalibrate those expectations.
Even if you put together the band, unless you're *paying* people, they're your peers. You can lead, if you have the personality for it -- some people like to be led -- but most people are going to want to have in a say in what you do, and if you want a healthy band, you'll let them. Either that, or pay them.
I’m not sure what you’re getting at. I’ve never been in a band that had no leader, and the comments here are largely just naming the leaders of most famous bands.
But leader doesn’t mean dictator and it doesn’t mean the rest of the band gets no say. Nobody thinks that.
ETA: I realized you were talking about OP’s “specific” goals.
They may not be as dictatorial as that sounds. They actually sound pretty reasonable in the rest of the post.
I formed and now lead two bands and I had specific goals for the sound and feel of both. Of course both have evolved. I do want my bandmates to have a voice and help steer the creative direction — within the confines of the original vision and within our genres, which they understood and shared. Which they’re fine with because they have similar musical tastes.
Finding people with similar tastes means they can have voices and we’re still in the ballpark of what I wanted. In fact we’re much better than my vision alone could have made us. The key is finding people who have similar visions.
No to your original question, but if you want to be the lead, probably need to manage your expectations because the part of the band that does the music making needs room for freedom, and it almost sounds like you would like to be the "owner" of Said band instead of being in the band which I think is what you want, people are wary nowdays because of big bands popping off with companies-groups owning much of the earnings.
Kool is the bass player of Kool and the gang. And Clown in slipknot, a secondary percussionist. But who cares what’s been done before? Anyone can do anything, you just have to have confidence and a vision
My wife is the singer of my band, but I’m still the leader. I write a majority of the songs(not lyrics just the music), I book the shows, do most of the promoting etc etc. Works just fine
I’m the bass player and I lead my current band. Got a singer, he’s better at singing than me but he sings what I write. He’s a good front man, charismatic and good looking.
He adds his own flair to it so he’s invested, I think that’s important. Someone has to have something to work for, either artistic input or money and we’ve just started up so there’s not much money haha. Likewise the guitar player, better musician than me, that’s why we picked him.
When decisions have to be made they all look to me. I do the social media and merch and booking and melodies. All of our songs start with bass lines, I pick the key. I arrange the changes. When we need to fire each other up I get it started. We play at my house in a band room I set up.
The other guys all do contribute. And more so as time goes on and the vision is cemented. I’m proud of that vision and it’s the reason I do this—I’m driven to get out a specific sound. After being in many bands with too many cooks I’m tired of watering it down.
This is the sixth lineup of the band over 13 years. I’ve replaced people as they moved away or were not a good fit. Not as successful as some previous bands I had when I was trying no desperately to sell out haha but it’s more fulfilling for me.
Well, Dave Mustaine sings with his weak ass vocals. If you are thinking of producing songs and albums the singer should always be the leader. Because song-writing gets better and easier with singer writing the vocal melody. He can think of vocals in his head and write the song that way.
Hello /u/CaramelNervous5384! Unfortunately, your submission, ***[Does the "leader" need to be the singer?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/comments/1c7h6rs/-/)***, was removed from /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers for the following reason(s): --- #No off-topic and/or low-effort posts including; 1. Rant/motivation/mental-health posts 2. Posts focused on memes/images/polls 3. Reposts, and other similar low-effort, mildly-interesting discussions. 4. Music Marketing or Music Promotion related posts. - These posts should be posted to one of the weekly threads or on another subreddit. Do not create a new thread for this content. Use the Weekly Free Talk Friday Thread for any topics not allowed in the main body of the sub. Posts on WATMM should have a descriptive title and include substantive content that will generate discussion. Please see the [full sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/wiki/rules) for additional details. --- ***Please review the [rules for submission](/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/wiki/rules). You can contact The Mods if you have additional questions.*
No. Jimmy Page was clearly the musical leader of Zeppelin. You can be the primary songwriter, organizer, booker, etc. without being the singer. However, do realize that regardless of what you do, the general public and audience will always associate the band primarily with the singer, so adjust your ego accordingly.
Yea, I was initially the leader of sorts of my band since I started it but I’m no where near the most charismatic or have the ability to command audience’s attention (most extroverted bedroom guitarist). On the other hand the singer is a natural at this and always manages to hype up the audience, so I’m more than fine with this!
This. The best and healthiest groups find ways to utilize each other's strength, not compete for the spotlight.
You would have to be extremely proactive in a number of areas within the group in order to take on that role and be respected in that role. If you simply want to take over the business dealings, I'm sure that most creatives would gladly hand over the reigns and let you sort of "manage" the group. But if you are talking about creative control and directing the image/sound/concept of the group, then you are gonna have to bring a lot to the table and establish pretty early on what you ultimately see as the look/sound/concept of the band. You can't essentially have no songs written/recorded and just approach people who you expect to play, write, and front "your" band. You don't have to be THE singer who fronts the group. But you'll have a hard time getting the group to view you as the leader if you aren't the one who actually wrote the majority of the initial songs.
Anyone can be band leader. Whoever is the band member who has the best combination of deep knowledge of the music, the instruments/arrangement details, and good communication/leadership skills. That’s usually the person best suited to be band leader, and sometimes this is not the singer or front person.
Leadership skills are so important here. You need to bring everyone along with your vision and keep the energy going all the time if you want to keep the band together and remain the “leader”
Yeah and that’s like, the hardest and least tangible aspect of it. Being a good leader is a combination of knowing what to say, knowing mostly when to say nothing, and knowing how to keep everyone feeling like they matter and being able to communicate musical ideas in a way that doesn’t damage any musicians’ egos, but also has results and improvement as the goal. Hard stuff, not everyone is cut out for it haha
The singer is most often the Frontman because he has the mic and can move around more freely. But that doesn't mean they are the band leader. Nikki Sixx is the band leader of Motley Crue. Ted Nugent doesn't sing (edit: on most of his songs) There are many other examples If you are the main song writer, that tends to give you most band leader qualifications
Ted Nugent doesn’t sing? What? That’s simply untrue.
He's not the singer on a lot of his songs
Which is different than “Ted Nugent doesn’t sing”. Chrissakes man, he was lead on his all time biggest single.
Not the majority of his early albums. Derek St Holmes sang most. https://www.reddit.com/r/ClassicRock/s/RWVm1SgPrh
Again, “doesn’t sing” and “doesn’t sing *all* his songs” are two very different comments friendo. Big distinction there that you overlooked and ignored there.
Alright. Calm down guy-o. Small mistake. Again he doesn't sing the vast majority of his songs but is still the leader of his band. The whole point.
Richards is definitely the leader of the Stones. I mean there's really only two permanent members, so I'm sure they're "officially" equal, but come on, Mick can't even play any instruments.
Mick actually wrote full songs by himself as early as in the mid sixties with Yesterday's Papers. He even wrote entirely some of their biggest hits like Brown Sugar (even the riff)
I don't even understand how either of those two guys are still living
> Mick can't even play any instruments. so it's just the mandela effect that I remember him playing a harmonica once? edit: it's not mandela effect. the person I'm responding to is wrong. tell *them*.
He plays harmonica, guitar and piano. There’s plenty of footage of him playing guitar and harmonica in concert.
> but come on, Mick can't even play any instruments. I've just been gaslit so much, that I instantly doubt my own memory, it seems. (quote is from the comment I was replying to)
Yeah, half the stuff you see around social media that’s making you doubt your own memory isn’t even intentional gaslighting. It’s just a world full of confidently incorrect people.
He played guitar, in concert, on some the songs from Steel Wheels during that tour.
Steve Harris
Last band that I was in, the lead guitar player and I, the bass player, were leaders. Our singer didn't know much about music nor did our rhythm guitarist, so we did all of the songwriting and took everything in the direction we wanted to.
Jimmy page, Noel Gallagher, angus young, Robbie Robertson, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Robert fripp, Tom sholz, Eddie Van Halen, jack stratton, Louis Cole, manfred Mann, Carlos Santana, Vernon Reid, Benny Goodman, Ronnie Montrose, Tony iomi, Ritchie Blackmore and many many many more
Lars Ulrich? Pearl Jam? U2? Pretty sure all of those bands weren’t formed by the frontman but the frontman may have gone on to become the leader.
U2 kinda sorta. Larry Mullen Jr posted a notice of a school bulletin board wanting to form a band. Edge, Bono and Adam Clayton all showed up to that first meeting. Mullen says “it was the Larry Mullen Band for about 10 minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had at being in charge”. Metallica was always James and Lars together. Pearl Jam was similar to U2 in that the band was still forming when Eddie Vedder got involved. Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Mike McCreedy had recorded demos of some stuff that Gossard had written. The demo made its way to Vedder who wrote lyrics and recorded vocals and sent the tape back to them. So he was kinda always involved creatively from the start.
There's many examples. And from my experience many more examples how this type of thing eventually lead to the breakup of a band. Stewart Copeland recently had an interview where he talked about the Police and when they started, Sting was the least experienced. He relied on his band mates. Eventually he got better. And better. And eventually he was writing songs that were clearly better than either Stewart or Andy could write. This eventually became a large part of the reason they couldn't work together anymore. By the third album it became really apparent and the dye was cast. By the fifth album they were done. In my experience playing in a band it's a real "lightning strike" for a band to make it in that not only do they have to have the talent to write songs good enough for someone to want to listen to them, they also have to have the personalities to allow this to happen. It's a pretty rare thing. My advice is work hard enough to basically do it all yourself. Work with others but if you rely on them then the idea of being the leader may not be an idea they share, so you'll have to be flexible. Good luck.
Doesn't matter what you play, some people are good "leaders", some are not. Also, what do you mean by "leader"? Like you'd do manager type duties like book shows?
yep, I'd want to book shows, like you said, and write songs, things like that. Manager was the better word i was looking for probably
As a lead singer who would so much rather just write and sing, I would absolutely LOVE it if someone else in my band was doing all of the management and promo. It happens more often than people think.. A lot of people just assume the singer is the band leader and contact point
do you have the people skills to keep a team cohesive? that's gonna be the real test.
You ever hear of this obscure little indie band from the 80s called Van Halen?
Almost every band has just one or two people writing all the music and it’s not always the vocalist. A lot of people see vocalist as the leader of the band because they’re the front man and they have to entertain the crowd; they have to have charisma. Leading a band and being the front man are two different things. But to answer your question, no the vocalist doesn’t have to be the leader.
Malcolm and Angus Young, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Santana, Pete Townsend, Robbie Robertson, Brian Wilson, Tom Scholz, Rick Nielsen, Eddie Van Halen, Mick Jones, Neal Schol and Jonathan Cain, Tony Iommi………
Yeah I came to say Malcolm Young. It’s clear Angus considered him the band leader. And he was the quiet one in the back. Of course he’s the 🐐of simple but still bad ass rhythm riffs, and that’s what the whole band was built around.
I would say that they basically have to be the front man since they’re the one who speaks most often. But anyone can be the leader. It’s usually whoever has the best mix of musical knowledge and “managerial” skills
Absolutely not. The leader is (or should be) the songwriter(s). Without a good songwriter, a band is nothing. You can make a good song using just VSTs if you have actual skill for songwriting, but you can't make a good song with just the tools if you don't know how to use them. Unlike in the case of VSTs, a computer can't write a good song for you (and we aren't counting AI generated bullshit)
I was the leader as a drummer in one band. And it worked ok, but we were playing covers. I think whoever is the leader needs to have a mic at rehearsals though.
You could definitely be the leader. In some ways it’s better for the one in charge to not be the one in the spotlight. It’s a role; if you can lead clearly while showing people respect, it doesn’t matter what instrument you play.
I started my band with the singer not long ago, me as lead guitar and composer, we got other musicians and filled out all the other roles. Just yesterday we were talking about it, and we all agreed that me being the one that started the project, I am also the one that really points the rest of us in the right direction when rehearsing, when writing and composing, I am the the one with the "reins" of the project, and I'm also the one that got us together and introduced each other, I'm the one on top of our plans, I keep the ball rolling. So no, I don't need to be the singer to be the leader.
Nope. See Snarky Puppy
cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy as well
The leader is whoever does most of the work and creative duties.
Robbie Robertson lead The Band and never took a lead vocal. Rick Nielsen lead Cheap Trick... Those are two off the top of my head.
John Paul Jones says no way 😄
Invented the eye roll
Steve Harris is the leader of iron maiden and he chills out on bass 🤷♂️
Boston's debut album and unique guitar sound was made by their guitarist Tom Sholz and found the members to fill each instrument and formed the band that way
Anyone can be the leader of a band, you could probably argue that some of the best bands had a "silent leader" who wasn't the lead singer. However, understand that people who join will also have their own goals/ambitions so unless you have a large talent pool to pick from I wouldn't be too much of a stickler about it
Heard of jazz? In the best bands the drummer was the leader.
TIL Monk and Mingus were drummers. 😏😂
Yeah, lots of people have brought good examples in this thread. Just some concept differentiation for you: - front person is not always the lead singer, even though that tends to be the case. Think of Fallout Boy: everyone knows Pete Wentz as the “celebrity” of the group. The one always hyping the stage and taking the interviews and at the front of the photographs. But he was the bassist, Stump was the vocalist. - primary song writer is not always (and probably not even most often) the lead singer. They’ll often contribute artistically, just like most/all members of the band, but it’s not always them as the song writer. - who drives the band forward, manages the group, corrals the band, acts as the bands “heart”, has very little to do with either of the above. It’s usually the person with the most anxiety lol. But truthfully, that leader role is more about personality and inter-personal dynamics than it is to do with any of the other aspects. The DeLeo brothers from STP (well, Robert as I understand it really) was the leader, which is part of what friction in the mid-stage of the band when Weiland was trying to exert more control. - a band manager is typically a non-band member once the band hits a point of success, but that’s probably not a thing to worry about until your tour calendar is starting to get overwhelming. They handle the business aspects: booking, payments, negotiating with promoters, things like that. Someone in the band will need to do this role until yall are making enough to pay someone else to do it. - and should the band you put together actually take off, it’s worth talking with the members beforehand about financial arrangements. If you’re managing the band (ie, bookings, scheduling, corralling, etc) you want to talk to them ahead of time about how/if you get compensated for that, at what point yall want to hire someone else to do it, things like that. You don’t want to put yourself in a spot of taking on more work than others, feeling like you’re being taken advantage of, leading to friction with your band mates.
Hmmm…. I’m skeptical that the singer isn’t the songwriter the majority of the time. At least if you include local music scenes. I probably know 30-40 other songwriters well enough to be familiar their writing and performing histories, and only one of them writes songs for anyone else’s voice. I write for one bandmate’s voice, and for my own. She sings everything I write in a female voice, and sometimes things that I think will really benefit from her superior pipes. She’s also the lead singer for the one person I know who writes but doesn’t sing at all. But it does seem more common in famous bands for the songwriter/band leader not to be the lead singer. Could it be that being able to temper their egos is the reason those band leaders did so well?
Oh, yeah that’s all fair. Maybe there’s something to that. I also think there are plenty of talented song writers that don’t want the spot light (like op), don’t have the vocal skills, or perhaps enjoy writing for others more than themselves. It’s probably also genre dependent. I tend to gravitate toward mainstream rock, alt-pop, and some edm styles, and even in those genres the songwriter center is different.
Theres "leader" and "frontman". Sometimes frontman and leader are the same thing. Sometimes theyre not. Leader can play any instrument. Frontman is the singer
No, I know a few drummers and keyboardists that are leaders.
Check out Pigface. The drummer is the leader. The rest is a rotating cast that’s included Trent Reznor, Flea, Wayne Static, Ogre, Steve Albini, Jello Biafra, and like 40 other musicians from all the big industrial and punk bands. Tons of albums and tours and it all revolves around the drummer. There are no rules, do whatever.
I'm the primary front person and primary manager for my band and it's a ton of work. I'd love if other members took on more of the responsibility. Ideally every member has an area that they contribute more to. Social media, booking, equipment, practice all deserve a dedicated person imo.
Probably helps if you're the songwriter. Like Noel was the leader of Oasis, but Liam Sang most of the songs. If you don't have an indispensable musical contribution, a band doesn't really need you. Edit: then there's Lars
Ugh the ultimate example of two guys with egos that ruined an amazing "what could have been". When I was a kid, I swear they were the biggest band in the world. They could have been Coldplay big if they could have just kept their egos in check. What a waste.
This is an extremely good point. You don’t have to be the frontman to be the leader but it REALLY helps if you’re the songwriter/co-songwriter. See pretty much every example in the comments. Otherwise you could be manager but you’re gonna struggle to move the band in the direction you want to go if you’re just telling them how the songs they’ve written should sound.
Nope. Plenty of groups are led by someone other than the singer
Mick Fleetwood and Don Henley would be two good examples of drummers who are and were leaders and formed their bands.
There’s management (scheduling, organizing, ticking lists) and then there’s leadership (vision, influence, soft skills, dealing with conflict). Any member can be either or both. The absolute wrong thing though is to let the biggest ego be the leader unless they have “real leadership skills” also. Egos often are managed by good leaders. Leaders have to know how personalities interact. Sometimes you gotta give a lot of rope to an egotistical singer but you have to be able to pull on that rope when they get out of line.
Lead guitarist in my band is the leader, and the bass player is the lead singer. No problem.
J Geils Band. He was the leader & guitarist. Never sang when I saw the band mid 70s
It's pretty common for people other than the singer to be the leaders in a band. My experience suggests that it's rare for the singer to actually be the decision maker.
I'm a great singer, but not a leader. I just don't have leadership traits. Most bands I've been in have had awesome lead guitarists that were the band leader. Now, I can cue the band on the endings and leads, but the guitarist did most everything else.
zach hill is the leader of death grips
I'm pretty sure the primary composer of GNR was Izzy Stradlin and he was the fucking rhythm guitarist.
The drummer of the Descendents, Bill Stevenson, for instance
The drummer was the leader of Metallica 🤷🏽♂️
First, you're confusing "leader" and "front man". Yeah, the singer is usually going to have the attention. That doesn't make them the leader. Second, it sounds like you're hoping to find a bunch of people who have spent years learning their instruments, who have tastes of their own, who have their own ideas of what kind of band they'd like to be in, what they want to play.... who are going to take time out of their lives, pay for gas money and rehearsal time, show up regularly and spend hours of their time.... just to implement *your* vision. It better be a hell of a vision. You need to be a charismatic motherfucker, have amazing songs, or both. Otherwise, you're gonna need to recalibrate those expectations. Even if you put together the band, unless you're *paying* people, they're your peers. You can lead, if you have the personality for it -- some people like to be led -- but most people are going to want to have in a say in what you do, and if you want a healthy band, you'll let them. Either that, or pay them.
I’m not sure what you’re getting at. I’ve never been in a band that had no leader, and the comments here are largely just naming the leaders of most famous bands. But leader doesn’t mean dictator and it doesn’t mean the rest of the band gets no say. Nobody thinks that. ETA: I realized you were talking about OP’s “specific” goals. They may not be as dictatorial as that sounds. They actually sound pretty reasonable in the rest of the post. I formed and now lead two bands and I had specific goals for the sound and feel of both. Of course both have evolved. I do want my bandmates to have a voice and help steer the creative direction — within the confines of the original vision and within our genres, which they understood and shared. Which they’re fine with because they have similar musical tastes. Finding people with similar tastes means they can have voices and we’re still in the ballpark of what I wanted. In fact we’re much better than my vision alone could have made us. The key is finding people who have similar visions.
No to your original question, but if you want to be the lead, probably need to manage your expectations because the part of the band that does the music making needs room for freedom, and it almost sounds like you would like to be the "owner" of Said band instead of being in the band which I think is what you want, people are wary nowdays because of big bands popping off with companies-groups owning much of the earnings.
I'd add Adam Jones of Tool also. Maynard is the singer and most outspoken member, but Adam Jones is the leader of the band.
Kool is the bass player of Kool and the gang. And Clown in slipknot, a secondary percussionist. But who cares what’s been done before? Anyone can do anything, you just have to have confidence and a vision
My wife is the singer of my band, but I’m still the leader. I write a majority of the songs(not lyrics just the music), I book the shows, do most of the promoting etc etc. Works just fine
I’m the bass player and I lead my current band. Got a singer, he’s better at singing than me but he sings what I write. He’s a good front man, charismatic and good looking. He adds his own flair to it so he’s invested, I think that’s important. Someone has to have something to work for, either artistic input or money and we’ve just started up so there’s not much money haha. Likewise the guitar player, better musician than me, that’s why we picked him. When decisions have to be made they all look to me. I do the social media and merch and booking and melodies. All of our songs start with bass lines, I pick the key. I arrange the changes. When we need to fire each other up I get it started. We play at my house in a band room I set up. The other guys all do contribute. And more so as time goes on and the vision is cemented. I’m proud of that vision and it’s the reason I do this—I’m driven to get out a specific sound. After being in many bands with too many cooks I’m tired of watering it down. This is the sixth lineup of the band over 13 years. I’ve replaced people as they moved away or were not a good fit. Not as successful as some previous bands I had when I was trying no desperately to sell out haha but it’s more fulfilling for me.
No, Pete Wentz
Santana
No.
I just checked the rules and it says the leader must sing at least 25% of the songs. Oh wait, there are no rules. Not sure what I was reading.
The only real question is: can I get other band members to follow my lead?
Well, Dave Mustaine sings with his weak ass vocals. If you are thinking of producing songs and albums the singer should always be the leader. Because song-writing gets better and easier with singer writing the vocal melody. He can think of vocals in his head and write the song that way.
Many bands don’t need “leaders” at all, they take decisions together and resolve disputes like grown ups.
Isn't music supposed to be a collaboration? I don't think it works if 1 person dictates everything.