Toto, Saigon Kick, and Dewa 19

What's the matter with these three bands? Is there any similarity? The answer is yes. These three bands have ever made some changes in their lineup, especially their singers.

Toto
First, I'd like to talk about Toto. Their first and original frontman was Bobby Kimball. After Kimball left, he was soon replaced by Fergie Fredriksen who left after releasing one album with Toto, Isolation. Toto was then joined by Joseph Williams (son of famous film composer, John Williams).

When Williams was finally forced to leave after losing his voice due to his habits of partying and drug addiction, Toto actually planned to have Kimball back, but their record company forced them to hire a South African named Jean-Michel Byron as their new lead vocalist. This idea was proved to be disaster. In my opinion, Byron is actually a great singer. He could sing well. But his on-stage antics had me see that he wasn't a right front-man for Toto. Byron was let go after touring to promote their greatest hits album.

One unique thing about Toto is despite the fact that they had a lead vocalist, their guitarist, Steve Lukather and their two keyboardists, David Paich and Steve Porcaro, also sometimes sang lead on some tracks. Even some of their well-known hits were not sung by their lead singer. For examples, Africa (sung by Paich), Rosanna (sung by Lukather and Kimball), and I'll Be Over You (sung by Lukather). So, when Byron left, an extreme decision was made. They continued the band with Lukather handling most of the lead vocal duties (which can be heard on their "Kingdom of Desire" and "Tambu" album) before Kimball returned on "Mindfields" and recently Toto reunited with Williams for some shows.

Saigon Kick
The next band I'd like to talk about is Saigon Kick. The band originally consisted of lead vocalist Matt Kramer, guitarist Jason Bieler, bassist Tom Defile, and drummer Phil Varone. After releasing two albums, singer Jason Bieler decided to leave. But instead of recruiting a new singer, Bieler took over the lead singer and guitarist duties before the finally broke up and reunited with Kramer.

Dewa 19
The last, let's talk about this band from Surabaya. The original line-up of Dewa 19 was Dhani on keyboards, Erwin on bass, Wawan on drums, Andra on guitars, and Ari Lasso on vocals. Just like Dhani's heroes, Queen and The Beatles, which had more than one lead singer, Dhani also sometimes sang lead or made a duet with Ari. When Ari left (or some said he was fired cause of drugs addiction), he was replaced by Elfonda "Once" Mekel. But still, Dhani took the lead vocal duty sometimes. A few months ago, it was announced that Once also left Dewa. So, will Dewa take same direction like Toto and Saigon Kick.