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Elvis Presley nearly joined The Songfellows Quartet -

Elvis was a huge gospel fan and at one point in the early '50s he auditioned for the group The Songfellows Quartet. Apparently, he didn't join them because he was not very good at harmonizing.

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Steven Tyler nearly joined Led Zeppelin -

Led Zeppelin was really amped following their reunion show in 2007 in London, but front man Robert Plant wasn't very interested in additional tour dates due to other commitments. The band decided to audition a few singers, and the Aerosmith front man was among them. Indeed, he was a favorite to replace Plant.

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Bob Dylan nearly joined Grateful Dead -

Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead have flirted for years. They toured together in the late '80s, and Jerry Garcia's band even backed Dylan on stage. The collaborative tour resulted in the 1989 live album 'Dylan & the Dead.'

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Kurt Cobain nearly joined Hole -

Nirvana's late front man considered joining his wife Courtney Love's band, Hole. When asked about the collaboration in an interview, Kurt Cobain said: "I’d like to. But to tell you the truth, I would rather just quit my band and join Hole. When I have played music with them, there’s a level of connection that’s a little bit higher than with anyone else I ever played with."

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Keith Moon nearly joined Led Zeppelin -

Keith Moon did jam with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck (then of The Yardbirds). In fact, Moon, together with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Nicky Hopkins, participated in Jeff Beck's first solo recording 'Beck’s Bolero.' Things really could have happened differently if this early version of Led Zeppelin continued to work together.

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Slash nearly joined Poison -

Surely there would be no Guns N' Roses as we know them without Slash. Though Poison would probably sound a lot different, too. The famous guitarist auditioned for the glam metal outfit, but didn't get the gig.

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Slash nearly joined Poison -

Some say his image had a bit to do with it, though front man Bret Michaels explained the rejection was based on musical differences. "I believe he would have steered our sound a little more in the Aerosmith direction," he said. Poison went with guitarist C.C Deville instead.

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Steven Tyler nearly joined Led Zeppelin -

The band eventually decided not to go ahead with the tour. Later, Steven Tyler opened up about the experience: "I don't think a band like theirs needs a singer like me. They already had the best, they were the best, in fact, there is no genre for what Led Zeppelin is other than Led Zeppelin. I've already got Aerosmith, I'm doing what I'm doing, Robert Plant's doing what he wants to do so I don't think there was really room for that."

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Michael Bolton nearly joined Black Sabbath -

Black Sabbath was looking for a new singer after Ronnie James Dio left the band, and Michael Bolton was one of several singers who auditioned for the position. Bolton has always dismissed it as a rumor, but Sabbath's guitarist Tony Iommi says otherwise. "We auditioned various singers - including Michael Bolton, believe it or not. He was one of them, which was an odd one," said the guitarist in a video for Gibson TV in 2020.

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Michael Bolton nearly joined Black Sabbath -

The guitarist also wrote the following on his autobiography: “Me and Geezer had to rethink the whole thing. We had a million tapes sent in from different singers and most of them were horrible. One of them was from Michael Bolton. I didn’t know him at the time. We had Michael come in and we had him sing ‘Heaven and Hell,’ ‘War Pigs,’ and ‘Neon Knights.’ He was quite good, but he wasn’t exactly what we were looking for then... Michael Bolton! A little bit of a mistake.” The band eventually went with Ian Gillan.

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Jeff Beck nearly joined The Rolling Stones -

"They said, ‘Come by and play a couple of tracks.’ That’s all I did,” recalled Beck. “Me and Keith would never have gotten on,” he added. Jeff Beck did join the band on stage a few times over the years. After all, Ronnie Wood played with him in The Jeff Beck Group.

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Dave Grohl nearly joined Tom Petty -

Dave Grohl played 'Saturday Night Live' with Tom Petty after Nirvana came to an end. After which he was invited by Petty to join his band on tour.  But Grohl didn't want to sit behind the drums again, as it reminded him of Kurt Cobain, and he was working on this new music, which would end up being his new band, Foo Fighters.

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Peter Criss nearly joined the Elton John Band -

The Kiss drummer actually auditioned for Elton John's band in the '70s, but he didn't get the gig.

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Stephen Stills nearly joined The Monkees -

Instead of joining Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Buffalo Springfield, Stephen Stills could have been a member of The Monkees. Apparently, he didn't get the gig because of his appearance. According to the band's singer and drummer Micky Dolenz, "He auditioned, and the joke is he didn't get it because he had bad teeth."

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Dee Dee Ramone nearly joined Television -

Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone formed the Ramones after Dee Dee's unsuccessful guitar audition for fellow New York City band Television.

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Patti Smith nearly joined Blue Öyster Cult -

The godmother of punk was a big fan of Blue Öyster Cult and was invited to contribute with lyrics for the band. One example is 'Career of Evil,' from their 1974 album 'Secret Treaties.'

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Elton John nearly joined King Crimson -

Elton John nearly joined prog rockers King Crimson. Band leader Robert Fripp hired the singer to work on the band's new album 'In the Wake of Poseidon,' but he didn't think Elton John's voice fit the band, so he canceled the sessions.

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Eric Clapton nearly joined The Beatles -

The guitarist took part in the Fab Four's sessions in 1968 for the 'White Album.' He also shared the stage with with John Lennon (and was invited to join his band with Yoko Ono) and later with George Harrison. When asked about the possibility of having become a Beatle, Clapton replied "Yeah … the pros and cons of being in a band like that were massively extreme."

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Bryan Ferry nearly joined King Crimson -

Elton John was not the only big name to not make it as a member of King Crimson. Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music also auditioned for the band and was rejected.

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Maynard James Keenan nearly joined Rage Against the Machine -

Yes, the Tool front man does collaborate on a RATM track called 'Know Your Enemy,' but he actually considered joining the band before Zack de la Rocha was recruited. Keenan explained why things didn't work out in the end: “I was looking for almost a Puscifer approach to music at that point. They were looking for a more serious approach, so I think that was pretty much immediate.” P.S. on the left you can see RATM guitarist Tom Morello at a Tool show in LA in 1991.

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Corey Taylor nearly joined Velvet Revolver -

Slipknot and Stone Sour singer Corey Taylor nearly got the gig in Velvet Revolver. Apparently all band members liked him, except for Slash, who according to drummer Matt Sorum, "wasn’t feeling it." Slash later explained: "I love Corey to death, but something about it was just a little bit too; what’s the word for it? You know how Corey sings. It’s a very macho kind of thing. But it didn’t have certain elements I thought it needed. So we just didn’t go down that path. And that was the closest so far."

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Jay Jay French nearly joined Kiss -

The guitarist and founder of metal band Twisted Sister auditioned for Kiss and was rejected. "I auditioned for Kiss in 1972, it didn’t work out. How honest can you be? I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t picked," he explained in an interview.

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Dimebag Darrell nearly joined Megadeth -

The iconic late guitarist could have been in Megadeth had band leader Dave Mustaine not hired drummer Nick Menza. After being invited to join Megadeth, Darrell asked Mustaine if he could bring his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, along with him, but Mustaine had already hired a new drummer for the band.

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Jeff Beck nearly joined The Rolling Stones -

The legendary guitarist auditioned to join the Stones under the pretense of contributing to the  band's album 'Black and Blue' (1976). "The fact that I had actually turned up was a signal to them that I had actually committed. Not the case," explained Beck.

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Kerry King nearly joined Megadeth -

Slayer axeman Kerry King played Megadeth's first five shows back in 1984. Apparently he didn't join the band because Dave Mustaine's antics proved too much for him. "I don't know how anybody can be in Megadeth for more than a couple of hours—that guy's crazy," said King about Mustaine.

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Buckethead nearly joined Ozzy Osbourne -

The guitarist auditioned for Ozzy's band, but the two locked horns from the beginning. The Prince of Darkness explained what happened: "He told me his name was Brian, so I said that's what I'd call him. He says, 'No one calls me Brian except my mother.' So I said, 'Pretend I'm your mum then!' I haven't even got out of the room and I'm already playing [] mind games with the guy.”

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Les Claypool nearly joined Metallica -

The band was looking for a bass player after tragically losing Cliff Burton. It turns out guitarist Kirk Hammett was friends with Les Claypool, so he got an audition. The story goes that James Hetfield rejected Claypool because he was too good for Metallica, but Claypool puts it in simpler terms:" I didn't fit and they saw that." The band eventually went with Jason Newsted instead.

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Marc Storace nearly joined AC/DC -

Singer Marc Storace was invited to audition for AC/DC after Bon Scott died in 1980, but decided to stay with his band Krokus instead. Brian Johnson got the gig, and the rest is history.

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Zakk Wylde nearly joined Guns N’ Roses -

Zakk Wylde was in talks with GN'R after recording with Pride & Glory, but ended up forming Black Label Society instead.

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Joe Satriani nearly joined Deep Purple -

The guitar virtuoso was hired to tour with Deep Purple in 1993 and 1994, following the departure of Ritchie Blackmore, but declined a permanent position later on. "I just thought, I'm Joe from Long Island. I don't belong in this British royalty metal band. I knew I just didn't belong. I was a big fan of Ritchie Blackmore and I thought I'll never be able to rectify it. I'll always feel guilty that I have to copy Ritchie and I didn't want to do that," Satriani explained.

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Johnny Marr nearly joined Happy Mondays -

According to the former Smiths' guitarist,  Happy Mondays tried to persuade him to fly out to Barbados and record an album. Marr found the idea "absolutely terrifying" and ended up rejecting the offer.

Sources: (Mixdown Magazine) (TheThings) (Music Times) (WhatCulture) (Ultimate Guitar) (Metal Hammer) (Consequence) (Kerrang!) (Ultimate Classic Rock) (Metal Injection) (Blabbermouth)

See also: Unlucky musicians who left famous bands just before their success

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