Most groups appear to burst into the limelight fully-formed, but in reality there's usually been plenty of chopping and chiselling to get to that point. Often there's a Pete Best figure, elbowed out of the picture just before fame came knocking because their face didn't fit. Or perhaps they couldn't keep up, or they kept getting "tired and emotional" on tour. And when success does come, it can sometimes be divisive, leading to further sudden personnel changes. The official press release may say "mutual consent" but the look on everyone's face suggests summary dismissal.
So what happened to those unfortunate musicians left clutching their P45s as their former bandmates marched on to glory? Here are the stories of seven high-profile rock firings, and what the recipients did next.
Tony McCarroll (Oasis)
Then: Oasis's original curly-haired drummer played on Definitely Maybe but once the band became megastars, his relationship with the Gallagher brothers deteriorated. Noel repeatedly derided McCarroll's musical chops in public and would pretend to forget his name in interviews; amid rumours of a punch-up with Liam, it was no surprise to anyone when McCarroll was sacked in April 1995. "I like Tony as a geezer but he wouldn't have been able to drum the new songs," said Noel, referring to Oasis's notoriously complex rhythm tracks.
Now: Having , McCarroll took further revenge on Noel in his 2010 autobiography, Oasis: The Truth, although his allegation that the Oasis songwriter regularly echoed melodies from other sources was hardly a revelation. These days - minus the hair - McCarroll is still drumming, and, according to was primed to take part in an Oasis reunion for the One Love Manchester concert, until Noel nixed the idea. McCarroll was also recently immortalised as a garden gnome, as the reported.
Kim Shattuck (Pixies)
Then: When Kim Deal quit the reformed Pixies in summer 2013, former Muffs frontwoman Kim Shattuck was drafted in as her replacement. All seemed to be going well until Shattuck was unexpectedly relieved of her duties less than six months later. No reason was given, but the bassist speculated to that an over-enthusiastic stagedive may have sealed her fate. "When I got offstage the manager told me not to do that again. I said, 'Really, for my own safety?' And he said, 'No, because the Pixies don't do that.'"
Now: Shattuck wasted no time in reforming The Muffs. Their sixth album Whoop Dee Doo was released in 2014 and they've just completed a South American tour.
LaTavia Roberson / LeToya Luckett / Farrah Franklin (Destiny's Child)
Then: Let's face it, Destiny's Child were always going to be Beyoncé’s group - especially with her dad Mathew Knowles as their manager. The moment original members LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett voiced their dissent about the band's uneven power structure, they found themselves unceremoniously airbrushed out of the picture; according to , the first they learned of their sacking was when they saw the video for Say My Name and realised they weren't in it. Not that one of their replacements, Farrah Franklin, fared much better. After missing a promotional trip to Australia, she was turfed out of the band after just five months; Franklin complained that she was ill with stomach flu and had actually quit of her own accord due to the Knowles family's stranglehold on the group, as also reported.
Now: LaTavia featured in season three of reality show R&B Divas: Atlanta and on 25 June 25 will deliver the keynote speech at the Dare 2 Aspire conference for "women and moms in business". LeToya has starred in 13 films and recently released her third solo album, Back 2 Life. Farrah made headlines for the wrong reasons last year following , but hopes to finally release her debut solo album soon.
Paul Di’Anno (Iron Maiden)
Then: Iron Maiden are often thought of as Bruce Dickinson's band, but in fact the charismatic singer didn't join until September 1981, more than five years after their first gig. On the Maiden's first two influential albums, vocal duties were carried out by Paul Di'Anno (né Andrews), a raspy bawler from Chingford. Unfortunately, as reported, his voice was deemed unsuitable (amid rumours of drug abuse) and he was fired just before the band hit the big time with 1982’s The Number of the Beast.
Now: A long and colourful career at the hard rock coalface has included stints fronting the bands Di'Anno, Battlezone, Killers and Architects of Chaoz (as well as a brief spell in prison for benefits fraud). The latter group opted to replace Di'Anno last year after he was hospitalised following a cancer scare, but in typically bullish fashion, Di'Anno took to to label them "traitors" and has vowed to put together a new Architects of Chaoz lineup soon.
Andy Nicholson (Arctic Monkeys)
Then: Andy Nicholson was still in his teens when Arctic Monkeys came hurtling out of Sheffield in the early-2000s. Their ascent was truly meteoric and bassist Nicholson was the first casualty when he pulled out of an American tour in May 2006 citing fatigue. His replacement Nick O'Malley stepped up to the plate so impressively that Arctic Monkeys decided to make the switch permanent a month later. "We wanted to move forward," Alex Turner told . Unusually, it seems like the split was fairly amicable - Nicholson also told , adding that he and the Monkeys remain "very close friends".
Now: Nicholson has kept himself busy on the Sheffield music scene, playing with bands including Reverend and The Makers, Mongrel and the more hip-hop-oriented Clubs & Spades. Now heavily bearded and tattooed, he is also one half of production duo Sticky Blood and runs the label Card Gang Music, as well as being a keen photographer and angler.
Topper Headon (The Clash)
Then: Headon's departure from The Clash was an all-too-familiar tale. Unable to fulfil his duties due to his escalating drug use, he was hoiked at the outset of the Combat Rock tour in May 1982 (Headon admitted to that he was "a raving heroin addict, trashing hotel rooms, throwing up, late for rehearsals"). At least he got to experience the band's best years; after Mick Jones followed Headon out of the exit door, The Clash only released one more album - the universally unloved Cut the Crap - before finally dissolving in 1986.
Now: Addiction and incarceration (he was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for supplying heroin to an associate) curtailed Headon's musical career, so he took to driving a taxi and busking on the tube before ending up in a homeless hostel. Finally kicking his habit at the 13th attempt, he has returned to music, making occasional appearances with his former Clash bandmates and . He also works with local music charities in Dover.
Dave Navarro (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Then: Having risen to fame with LA alt-rock band Jane's Addiction, Dave Navarro was drafted into the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993 as their lead guitarist - the seventh in a long line of musicians to take on that somewhat cursed role. He played on 1995's One Hot Minute, but with the band struggling to write songs for a follow-up, Navarro departed in early 1998. Quoted in at the time, singer Anthony Kiedis cited the old chestnut "creative differences" but Navarro later claimed to that Kiedis had given him another reason: "Anthony says it was because I tripped and fell over an amp while on drugs. I say that he was on more drugs than me at that point. We both had a loose relationship with reality. Who do you want to believe?”
Now: Jane's Addiction reformed in 2002 and Navarro has recorded and toured with them sporadically ever since. He’s also carved out a lucrative sideline as a reality TV star and host. In 2003, his wedding to Carmen Electra was filmed for an MTV series called 'Til Death Do Us Part (they separated three years later), and he’s currently fronting the ninth series of Spike's tattoo contest Ink Master.