Family/Family Bands
Famous Family Bands in Rock: the Siblings, Couples and Parents, from the 1970s Onward
Thirty famous family bands where the people on stage were related to each other. Some of the best records ever made came out of arrangements that would be unbearable in any other workplace.
Why Siblings Keep Making Rock Bands
Most of the famous family bands below exist for reasons that are dull and decisive. People who grew up in the same house have already spent years in a room together, already share a record collection, and can rehearse without anyone having to travel. The vocal reason is more interesting: siblings tend to blend because the instrument itself is built the same way, which is why so many family singing groups - the Everlys, the Andrews Sisters, the Beach Boys - are remembered for harmony rather than for any single voice.
The cost shows up later. Brothers who fall out do not stop being brothers, so the fallings-out are longer and louder than in ordinary bands: the Davies brothers, the Gallagher brothers and the Fogerty brothers each managed feuds that outlasted the music. Family bands are more durable than most groups and more explosive when they go.
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- 60s
- 70s
- 80s
- 90s
- 00s
Famous Family Bands of the 1970s and Before
The era when the format was normal rather than notable. Twenty groups, in order of formation.
| Band | Formed | Relation | Who |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Andrews Sisters | 1925 | Sisters | LaVerne, Maxene and Patty Andrews |
| The Staple Singers | 1948 | Father and children | Roebuck “Pops” Staples with Mavis, Cleotha and Pervis |
| The Isley Brothers | 1954 | Brothers | O’Kelly, Rudolph and Ronald Isley |
| The Everly Brothers | 1957 | Brothers | Don and Phil Everly |
| The Bee Gees | 1958 | Brothers | Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb |
| The Osmonds | 1958 | Brothers | Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond |
| The Beach Boys | 1961 | Brothers and a cousin | Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson with Mike Love |
| The Kinks | 1963 | Brothers | Ray and Dave Davies |
| The Jackson 5 | 1964 | Brothers | Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael Jackson |
| Sly and the Family Stone | 1966 | Siblings | Sly, Freddie and Rose Stone |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 1967 | Brothers | John and Tom Fogerty |
| The Carpenters | 1969 | Sister and brother | Karen and Richard Carpenter |
| The Pointer Sisters | 1969 | Sisters | Ruth, Anita, Bonnie and June Pointer |
| The Allman Brothers Band | 1969 | Brothers | Duane and Gregg Allman |
| Redbone | 1969 | Brothers | Pat and Lolly Vegas |
| Sparks | 1971 | Brothers | Ron and Russell Mael |
| Van Halen | 1972 | Brothers | Eddie and Alex Van Halen |
| Heart | 1973 | Sisters | Ann and Nancy Wilson |
| AC/DC | 1973 | Brothers | Malcolm and Angus Young |
| The Neville Brothers | 1977 | Brothers | Art, Charles, Aaron and Cyril Neville |
Siblings Who Built Rock Bands After 1980
Eleven more, from the Deal sisters to the Haim sisters - the format never went away.
| Band | Formed | Relation | Who |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Breeders | 1989 | Twin sisters | Kim and Kelley Deal |
| The Corrs | 1990 | Sisters and a brother | Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim Corr |
| Oasis | 1991 | Brothers | Noel and Liam Gallagher |
| The White Stripes | 1997 | Married couple | Jack and Meg White |
| The National | 1999 | Two sets of brothers | Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Scott and Bryan Devendorf |
| Kings of Leon | 1999 | Brothers and a cousin | Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill with Matthew Followill |
| Arcade Fire | 2001 | Brothers, and a married couple | Win and Will Butler, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne |
| Jonas Brothers | 2005 | Brothers | Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas |
| First Aid Kit | 2007 | Sisters | Johanna and Klara Söderberg |
| Haim | 2007 | Sisters | Este, Danielle and Alana Haim |
Couples and Parents on the Same Stage
Not every family act is a sibling act. The Staple Singers were Roebuck “Pops” Staples and his children, and they carried gospel into the civil rights era from a stage shared by two generations. The Carpenters were a sister and a brother with an entirely unequal public profile. Arcade Fire hold both categories at once: Win and Will Butler are brothers, and Win Butler and Régine Chassagne are married. The White Stripes were a married couple who spent years being described as siblings, which tells you something about how much audiences want the family version of the story.
Family Singing Groups, and What Changed
The oldest of these bands with family members in them are family singing groups rather than rock bands: the Andrews Sisters from 1925, the Staple Singers from 1948, the Isley Brothers from 1954. Those acts were built around voices, with the band hired in. What the 1960s and 1970s changed is that the relatives started playing the instruments too - the Wilson brothers, the Young brothers, the Van Halen brothers - and the family unit became the whole group rather than the front of it.
Where Family Band Names Come From
Most of these groups simply used the surname, which is why the list reads like a phone book: Everly, Gibb, Osmond, Jackson, Neville, Corr, Haim. A few took the relation itself as the name - The Breeders and The Pointer Sisters both put the family in the title - and two of the most famous went the other way entirely. Sly and the Family Stone used “Family” as a statement about the group rather than a claim about bloodlines: the band was mixed-race and mixed-gender by design, and the word was the point.
And the Band Simply Called Family
Which brings this list back to the group this archive is about. Family, from Leicester, were not related to one another at all. Their name came from a producer, Kim Fowley, who thought their clothes made them look like mafiosos - so of the famous family bands you might search for, the one with the most literal name has the least literal claim to it. Their story is here, and there is also a note on the later American act called Family Band, which is a different group again.
Questions about family bands
What are the most famous family bands?
By reach, the Jackson 5, the Bee Gees, the Beach Boys, AC/DC, Van Halen and Oasis. By influence on other musicians, the Everly Brothers and Sly and the Family Stone are hard to beat. All of them are bands with family members playing side by side rather than just sharing a name.
Which family bands came out of the 1970s?
The 1970s produced Redbone, Sparks, Van Halen, Heart, AC/DC and the Neville Brothers, while the Jackson 5, the Osmonds, the Carpenters, the Pointer Sisters and the Allman Brothers Band were all at their peak during the decade.
Are there family bands where the members are not related?
Yes, and two of them are on this page. Sly and the Family Stone used the word as a statement about a deliberately mixed-race, mixed-gender group. Family, from Leicester, got their name from a producer who thought they dressed like mafiosos. Neither was a family in the literal sense.
What is the oldest family band?
Of the groups listed here, the Andrews Sisters, who began performing in 1925. The Staple Singers followed in 1948 and the Isley Brothers in 1954 - all three were family singing groups before the format moved to instruments.
Why do family bands break up so badly?
Because the argument does not end when the band does. Ray and Dave Davies, Noel and Liam Gallagher, and John and Tom Fogerty each ran feuds that outlasted the music, which is the cost of the same closeness that makes these groups work in the first place.