Uncredited musicians, or ghost musicians, make the music industry go round. Or, at the very least, they make the job of the producer’s life a whole lot easier. Recording iconic albums seems to involve plenty of requirements – talents, inspiration, showing up. Unreliable and sometimes unremarkable, some famous rockstars needed to be cut out of their own songs.
We’ll never know all of the famous songs and albums about which we were lied to. But the secret has come out about many of them. These are the most famous rock songs involving ghost players and uncredited musicians instead of the much more famous stars whose names and pictures were printed.
Ace Frehley Is Out Playing Cards
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are the musical masterminds and financial gurus behind KISS. That’s how it’s always been, and many band fans hate them for it.
Simmons and Stanley are criticized for not involving hotshot, charismatic original guitarist Ace Frehley in more band activities before the group called it a day in 2024.
But can you really blame them? Frehley was a no-show for some of the band’s most important recording sessions. These resulted in some of KISS’s most famous 1970s albums.
With fans having to be kept happy and a reputation to uphold, producers like Bob Ezrin took to calling session players to replace the band’s actual guitarist. In one instance, Frehley even arrived at the studio and opted to play cards in the back, going into the recording room only once to ask: “So, how did I sound?”
Ezrin called in the sensational Dick Wagner to play on songs like “Sweet Pain” and “Flaming Youth” on 1976’s “Destroyer.” He also allegedly performed the acoustic guitar parts for the soft-rock monster hit “Beth.”
When KISS was polishing its “live” album “Alive II,” a sometimes inebriated Frehley was replaced by Bob Kulick. His brother, Bruce Kullick, ended up getting Ace’s job in the 1980s.
Ace, the Spaceman, was and remains beloved by classic rock fans. By 1982, he was out of the band, in no small part due to his irrational behaviour. It just goes to show that you should count your lucky stars while you can.
Nikki Sixx Orders Pizza, and a Bass Player
Like Simmons and Stanley, Motley Crue‘s Nikki Sixx is a genius at branding and promotion. This, together with extraordinary confidence, made The Crue one of the biggest heavy metal bands of the 1980s.
Playing his bass guitar was, however, not a priority. Sixx later wrote about trying to steal his first bass from a music shop, only to be told that he’d swiped a six-string electric guitar.
To be fair, Sixx and reputable producer Tom Werman dispute this fact. However, for years, it has been rumoured that Motley Crue’s bandleader had ghost musicians fill in for him on some of the group’s biggest albums.
It’s been said that keyboardist John Webster used sequenced bass programming on songs like “Kickstart My Heart.” Furthermore, Sixx expressed doubt that he had played on their previous records, jokingly suggesting that someone might have “replaced” his parts in the studio without his knowledge.
With Motley Crue notorious for using pre-recorded tracks on current tours, with ample video evidence to be found online, it’s hard not to think some of these rumours are true.
The Beach Boys, The Monkees and the Ghost Musicians
For some, like Rick Beato, the 1960s was the decade in which one’s level of musical proficiency really mattered. For others, folks in bands like The Beach Boys and The Monkees, it was the era in which they did the least heavy lifting.
By the late 1960s, Brian Wilson was leading The Beach Boys in the studio while his siblings focused on touring. Unable to get the band to perform to his envisioned standard, he enlisted professional musicians such as bass player Carol Kaye. That’s how “Good Vibrations” or the “SMiLE” album were made.
The Monkees were a lot of fun. But the four pals were, essentially, chosen to mime songs for a television series inspired by The Beatles. Originally, only Davy Jones was allowed to contribute vocals to singles by The Monkees.
Eventually, Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork demanded that they play their own parts. This began a brave psychedelic era for The Monkees and the end of their careers as pop stars.
Did Ringo Starr Play on All Songs by The Beatles?
Let’s be clear! Ringo Starr got the job with The Beatles precisely because he could record drums in the studio when Pete Best had trouble with this.
However, it was common practice for the music producer to replace the drummer when they thought they could get a better sound faster.
Starr is an exceptional drummer. That’s why John Lennon’s quip about Ringo not being even the best drummer in The Beatles must’ve stung.
However, there’s a long-running rumour that Starr would be replaced by a ghost musician on some Beatles songs. That would be a legendary figure, Bernard Purdie, and the list would include 25 songs.
Now, Purdie himself made the claim which has never been proven. However, the drummer played with the likes of Miles Davis and Steely Dan. He’s famous for inventing the so-called Purdie Shuffle, a drum groove used by TOTO on the hit “Rossana.” He was a well-respected musician ho didn’t make other phantasmagoric claims.
What we do know for sure is that Paul McCartney wrestled the drumsticks from Ringo on iconic songs like “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” which caused Starr to quit and sulk for a few days.
Ozzy Osbourne and the Masked Singer
Ozzy Osbourne is one of the great rock singers. A force of nature, capable of producing excellent heavy metal vocals, regardless of sobriety, even Ozzy needed some help from time to time.
In his most recent decades of performing, Osbourne has relied on a singer who doubled his vocals from outside the stage and uncredited. While some may scoff, this trick is used by many famous rock singers faced with having to play to great crowds.
Milli Vanilli and all the Other Milli Vanillis like Boney M
Poor Rob and Fab of Milli Vanilli will forever be associated with the lip-syncing scandal, which proved that this Grammy-awarded band hadn’t actually sung on its own records.
This was a ploy created by the talented Frank Farian. A fan of American funk music, Farian was something of a studio hermit who got the sound he wanted by playing and singing himself or getting experienced studio musicians to do it.
The case of Milli Vanilli caused a great stir. But it wasn’t the first that Frank Farian had chosen musicians to, essentially, model the songs he’d written and recorded. Boney M became one of the biggest groups of disco era, at one point rivaling ABBA. However, it hadn’t been Bobby Farrell singing “Daddy Cool,” but Farian. Live performances had Farrell lip-syncing. Did it pay off? Boney M sold millions of albums worldwide.
The Alice Cooper Band and Associates
Alice Cooper was a band before it was just the name of its lead singer. And they were a wild and great live band at that. But the charismatic Glen Buxton couldn’t always cut the lead mustard playing lead guitar in the studio.
As he would do with KISS, producer Bob Ezrin would invite guitar duo Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter to polish off the tracks.
Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter would eventually receive some of the acclaim that they certainly deserved. You can hear them trading solos on Lou Reed’s live album “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal.”
Elvis Presley, the King of Rock n’ Roll and of Copyrighting
While perhaps less controversial, Elvis Presley also benefited from the musicians he had backing him up. This is not so much a story of ghost musicians but rather as ghostwriters.
The great guitarist Scotty Moore played in sessions for Elvis and often came up with song ideas that ended up getting used. Was he credited, though? Not with Colonel Parker watching over Elvis’ interests!
Keith Richard, Jimmy Page, Sid Vicious
The way that bands earned money in the 1970s was primarily through album sales. This meant that any musician, regardless of their reputation, who derailed the recording process needed to be replaced.
Keith Richard essentially led The Rolling Stones. Just like Brian Jones had been sidelined, bassist Bill Wyman, a virtuoso, was occasionally replaced by Richard playing his bass parts.
It’s also been rumoured that Jimmy Page, the guitar genius of Led Zeppelin, might’ve had multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones record some of his parts on occasion. There’s no proof for this rumour.
And while Sid Vicious is supposed to have replaced original bassist Glen Matlock for some of the songs on the seminal “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols,” many people doubt that he had the ability to do so.
Meanwhile, bands like Steely Dan were open about bringing in more experienced musicians, like drummer Jeff Porcaro, who played on “Black Friday,” rather than the official members.
Or, in the case of Guns n’ Roses, lead guitar player Slash might’ve played the rhythm guitar parts of Izzy Stradlin on occasion.
Web of Lies, or Efficient Industry?
Rockstars and the teams they employ haven’t started telling fibs recently. Plenty of them have maintained the calculated image of the rockstar.
While we know or have heard rumours that many iconic songs do not actually feature the people listed in the credits, the list must be much larger. This has probably made a few producers ask themselves, “Who needs musicians anyway?” thereby invariably foreseeing the future of the music industry.
