When musicians come together to form a band, they're usually all from the same town, or at the very least, the same state. However, there are a few bands out there that have line-ups featuring musicians from completely different countries. Here are six bands with international line-ups.
1. The Band
One of the defining bands of '60s and '70s Americana was, ironically, eighty percent Canadian. Though based in Saugerties, New York (at the famous "Big Pink" house), the only American member of The Band was drummer/vocalist Levon Helm. The other four members, including songwriters Robbie Robertson and Richard Manuel, originally hail from Ontario.
2. Stereolab
Though experimental rock band Sterolab has a number of songs that are sung in French, the only member of the band from France is singer Lætitia Sadier. The band was actually based in London, and formed in 1990 by Sadier and guitarist Tim Gane, who met at a show in Paris in the late eighties. Sadier wasn't the only foreigner in the band, however: the late guitarist Mary Hansen was born in Australia.
3. Galaxie 500
Though the members of Galaxie 500 originally met as teenagers in New York City, they didn't start playing music together until they all moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend Harvard. However, singer/guitarist Dean Wareham isn't originally from the United States at all: he was born in New Zealand, and moved to New York when he was 13.
4. Can
One of the defining bands of the krautrock movement of the '60s and '70s was Can, a band from Cologne, Germany. However, neither of the band's two best-known lead vocalists was German. Original vocalist Malcolm Mooney was American, and after he left in 1969, the band recruited Damo Suzuki, a Japanese street performer found by bassist Holger Czukay and drummer Jaki Liebezeit in Munich.
5. The Velvet Underground
One of the most innovative parts of the Velvet Underground's music was its melding of rock and pop songwriting with elements of the avant-garde. The more traditional and accessible aspects of the band's music came from singer/guitarist Lou Reed, who was a songwriter for a novelty record label in the early '60s, while the band's avant-garde elements came from violist/bassist John Cale, a Welsh-born musician with training in classical music.
6. Fleetwood Mac
Perhaps the most successful multinational band of all-time is Fleetwood Mac. Though the band's core rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are British, they've worked with American musicians ever since 1971, when they recruited guitarist Bob Welch to join. When Welch left, the band hired two more American songwriters, Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, leading to Fleetwood Mac's most critically and commercially successful period.
What other bands have international line-ups? Let us know in the comments section!
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