15 of the greatest Classic Rock supergroups

4 April 2025, 18:15

What is it about the supergroup? Is it just some celebrity mates messing about, or can some real magic be found when superstars get together?

By Radio X Classic Rock

@xclassicrock

1. Cream

   The original blues supergroup featured Eric Clapton, who'd found fame playing guitar with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and the Yardbirds, drummer Ginger Baker of the Graham Bond Organisation and bassist Jack Bruce, who'd worked with the Bluesbreakers, the GBO and had a brief spell in Manfred Mann. The trio made four albums: Fresh Cream (1966), Disraeli Gears (1967), Wheels Of Fire (1968) and Goodbye (1969).

   The group played two farewell shows at the Royal Albert Hall on 25th and 26th November 1968, which were televised on BBC-1. Clapton and Baker went on to form another supergroup, Blind Faith, with Steve Winwood of Traffic and Ric Grech of Family.

   

2. The Traveling Wilburys

   George Harrison and ELO man Jeff Lynne had such a good time making the former Beatle’s Cloud Nine album in 1987 that they decided to create their own band. Inevitably, mates were called and the entire crew adopted winsome pseudonyms, namely "Nelson Wilbury" (Harrison), "Otis Wilbury" (Lynne), "Lucky Wilbury" (Bob Dylan), "Lefty Wilbury" (the legendary Roy Orbison) and "Charlie T Wilbury Jr" (Tom Petty). Shortly after the release of their debut album in 1988, Orbison died, leaving the Wilburys a foursome for the follow-up in 1990.

   

   The Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care (Official Video)

3. 10cc

   The Manchester-based art pop band had roots in a number of groups from the area, but the classic line-up consisted of Graham Gouldman, who had written hits for the Yardbirds, The Hollies and Jeff Beck; Eric Stewart, who'd been in Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders; and Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who'd both been in The Mockingbirds and The Sabres. Initially known as Hotlegs, the quartet went on to score two Number 1 hits before Godley & Creme went to forge a solo career.

   

4. Wings

   That humble little beat combo Wings may have been overshadowed by the involvement of one J.P. McCartney and his wife Linda, but the former Beatle was joined by Denny Laine, who'd topped the charts as a member of The Moody Blues in 1964 with Go Now.

   The initial line-up of the band was completed by session man Denny Seiwell on drums and ex-Spooky Tooth member Henry McCullough on guitar. Former Stone The Crows man Jimmy McCulloch replaced McCullough in 1974, while later incarnations of Wings featured Geoff Britton of Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Steve Holley, who'd worked with Elton John.

   

5. The Power Station

   Superstar Robert Palmer had appeared on the bill at a huge Duran Duran show in Birmingham in July 1983, so when the New Romantic heroes took a hiatus the following year, guitarist Andy Taylor and bassist John Taylor enlisted the singer, plus Chic drummer Tony Thompson to form The Power Station. The band's self-titled 1985 debut album was produced by Chic man Bernard Edwards, and made Number 12 in the UK charts, spawning the hit single Some Like It Hot.

   

   The Power Station - Some Like It Hot

   The project gave Palmer a career boost, leading to his international success Addicted To Love and prompting the singer to turn down a tour with The Power Station. Former actor Michael Des Barres was recruited as a vocalist, appearing with the group at the US leg of Live Aid in July 1985. Duran Duran reconvened the following year for their Notorious album, but The Power Station made a brief return with the original line-up in 1996 for a second album, Living In Fear.

6. Tin Machine

   After the commercial success but critical doldrums of 1987's Never Let Me Down album, David Bowie decided a rethink was in order. The answer was Tin Machine, a "band-band" that featured Bowie, Hunt and Tony Sales from Iggy Pop's touring band and versatile guitarist Reeves Gabrels.

   Their self-titled debut album was mocked as an affectation by critics, but a second LP followed in 1991, before Bowie called it a day and returned to solo work with a renewed vigour. Gabrels is now a member of The Cure and appeared on their latest album Songs Of A Lost World.

   

7. Bad Company

   Free singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke joined Mick Ralphs of Mott The Hoople and Boz Burrell of King Crimson to form Bad Company, issuing their first album in 1974 and scoring a considerable hit in America with the track Can't Get Enough.

   

   Bad Company - Can't Get Enough (Official Music Video)

8. Led Zeppelin

   Ace session musician Jimmy Page was known for playing on records by The Kinks and The Who, but went on to become a member of The Yardbirds. When the band started to disintegrate in 1968, Page tried to launch a "New Yardbirds" with another session musician, John Paul Jones, on bass and Robert Plant and John Bonham from the group Band Of Joy on vocals and drums respectively. The "New Yardbirds" name didn't last very long.

   

   Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love (Official Music Video)

9. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

   The blissed-out sounds of CSNY were brought to you by: David Crosby of The Byrds, Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and Graham Nash of The Hollies; Nash's bandmate Neil Young later joined the group in time for their appearance at Woodstock in August 1969. The CSN line-up released their self-titled album in 1969, CSN in 1977, Live It Up in 1990 and After The Storm in 1994. With Young, they issued Déjà Vu (1970), American Dream (1988) and Looking Forward (1999).

   

10. Humble Pie

    A supergroup formed in 1969 by ex-Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott with Peter Frampton of The Herd. Their single Natural Born Bugie made Number 4 in August that year, but Frampton left in '71 for solo superstardom and Marriott continued with various line-ups until 1975, reviving the name for a short time in the early 80s. He died in a house fire in 1991, aged just 44.

    

    Humble Pie - For Your Love (1970)

11. Emerson Lake & Palmer

    The prog rock supergroup featured keyboard player Keith Emerson, formerly with The Nice, bassist Greg Lake of King Crimson and drummer Carl Palmer, from Atomic Rooster. They plied their trade across ten albums between 1970 and 1994, achieving a Number 2 hit in 1977 with their version of Fanfare Of The Common Man. Emerson and Lake both died in 2016.

    

    Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Fanfare For The Common Man (Live at Olympic Stadium, Montreal, 1977)

12. Journey

    This American classic rock act began life as a spin-off from the Santana Blues Band, with guitarist Neal Scon and keyboardist and singer Gregg Rolie. They were joined by bassist Ross Valory and guitarist George Tickner, who were previously in the San Francisco group Frumious Bandersnatch, plus British drumemr Aynsley Dunbar, who'd worked with David Bowie and Lou Reed among many others. The line-up were joined by singer Steve Perry for 1978's Infinity album.

    

13. Asia

    The British group featured Steve Howe and Geoff Downes of Yes, Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster and ELP (see above) and John Wetton of King Crimson and Uriah Heep as their initial line-up.

    

14. The Firm

    Led Zeppelin and Bad Company had both come to an end in the early 1980s, leaving Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers both at a loose end. They teamed up with Roy Harper's bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Chris Slade of Manfred Mann's Earth Band to form The Firm, who released a self-titled debut album in February 1985 and its follow-up, Mean Business the next year. The band didn't last much longer, with Slade going on to replace Simon Wright in AC/DC in 1989.

    

15. Plastic Ono Band

    Although better known as John Lennon's solo project with his new wife Yoko Ono, the Plastic Ono Band was actually a floating line-up of musicians, constituing a genuine supergroup at various points during its brief existence. Initially a method for Lennon to leave the rigid framework of The Beatles without actually causing the Fab Four to split, press ads claimed "YOU are the Plastic Ono Band" to plant the seed that the group had no fixed line-up.

    

    Along the way, the collective included John's Fab bandmates George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann (a former Beatle associate from Hamburg, who later played with Manfred Mann, among others), ace saxophonist Bobby Keys, session keyboard player extraordinaire Nicky Hopkins, soul duo Delaney & Bonnie, Badfinger's Joey Molland and Tom Evans and even Keith Moon of The Who at one point. And YOU! Apparently.