Bands where a member leaves, and BOTH that member and the band become more successful as a result

Didn't Moby Grape fall off the map after their first three (Spence) albums, though? I know they made more albums.

I don't think this one really fits, but how about Michael Steele leaving The Runaways in 1976 before they recorded their first album, then joining the Bangles 8 years later.

(Random Wikipedia fact: Michael Steele briefly played bass for Snakefinger.)

Hard to know what would've become of Genesis had Gabriel not left but I highly doubt it could have resulted in something like Invisible Touch. Phil was definitely more of a hitmaker than Peter was, and I don't think Peter could've done the things he wanted to within the band.

In an alternative universe, "In Your Eyes" would have probably sounded almost same and just been called a Genesis song. And stuff like "In Too Deep" would have been saved for solo Phil Collins because it sounds way more like his solo stuff than full band.

maybe not but Kim Deal/Pixies of the 90s? she left and within 2 years the Breeders had a bigger hit than the Pixies ever did.

might be hard to make the case for now financially but imo creatively the Breeders are still way more successful whereas Pixies have kind of lost their magic and turned into a generic bar band.

Eh? That is almost completely wrong afaik. Kim didn't leave, the band broke up, the same year as the Breeders had their big hit. I suppose the same year is within 2 years, so not quite completely wrong.

But how do you figure Kim "leaving" the Pixies made them more successful when the Pixies were then defunct for 10 years?

can't believe we're this deep in with no mention of van halen

Van Halen's apex was 1984, no? so they wouldn't qualify

No way, Van Hagar sold waaaaaaay more records.

. Also the rare instance, along with Genesis, of both the original singer and the replacement singer having successful solo careers of their own. Though I don't know if Hagar counts, because he was successful pre-VH.

Well, actually it's complicated, re: VH.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/news/1024/roths-van-halen-sales-trounce-sammy-hagars-hold-on-there-dave/52326

solo Roth was big, but did he ever equal 1984 sales?

Yeah I don't buy that re: Van Hagar. The whole thing about Roth taking seven records to sell what Hagar did in four... well, yeah. Hagar joined after VH's best-selling album ever. the thing about the Hagar albums hitting #1 is useless imo, only sales matter.

I thiiiiiiink Van Hagar made more $$$, if I recall Hagar's memoir "Red" correctly, but yeah, established brand.

There were a lot of factors at work re: Van Halen vs Van Hagar. Van Hagar were building on Van Halen's established rep, and the industry around them was changing, too - they'd started out a bar band, served a couple of years as an opening act, and only in their last few years (say, 1981-84) headlined. Meanwhile, rock shows were themselves getting bigger, so VH circa '85 was able to play stadiums rather than arenas, which wasn't an option for Roth-era VH until close to the end of their run.

On the flip side, think how much Hagar lost paying speeding tickets.

I guess Fairport Convention shedding members in 69 to begat solo Sandy Denny and Steeleye Span and a little later solo Richard Thompson doesn't count? Not sure how popular Fairport Convention remained at the time. Maybe it does though, could be when they were closest to being a popular band. Certainly meant a lot of great music came out. The Albion Band or whatever variation thereon was also great.

The Commodores only Grammy winning single "Nightshift" was released after the departure of Lionel Richie.

hard to argue that they were more successful overall after he left, considering that was their last hit and lionel became one of the biggest stars of the 80s

I know but I was listening to that song this morning and was like wow that was the only Grammy they won (& not for "Easy" nor "3x a Lady" nor "Lady" nor lol "Brick House" etc.)

it's a good song

Did we mention Massive Attack and Tricky?

A rare situation where two members of a band leave and both the original band, now a solo act, and the new one do better:

Black Dog / Plaid

Okkervil River and Shearwater are an interesting case. Shearwater was originally an Okkervil River side project for songs which didn't fit on their albums, and for which writing credits were more or less split between Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg. I think Meiburg became dissatisfied with this arrangement so he left OR and after that SW became more or less a Meiburg solo project. Since then Shearwater have become much more successful than they were before the split, although it's a moot point whether OR have also become more successful.