Rock’s Greatest What Ifs: The Decisions That Could Have Changed Rock History
What if Eric Clapton had joined The Beatles? What if Slash became the guitarist for Poison, Richie Sambora joined KISS, or Sammy Hagar never joined Van Halen? In this episode of Booked On Rock, author Mike Garam explores rock’s greatest what ifs through his book Near Miss: Alternate Histories of Rock’s Greatest Personnel Decisions. We revisit real auditions, offers, lineup changes, and opportunities that nearly happened involving some of the biggest names in classic rock, including The Beatles, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Poison, and KISS.
But rock’s greatest what ifs go far beyond simply swapping one musician for another. Mike follows the ripple effects to imagine how different personnel decisions might have changed famous albums, songs, careers, and even other bands. We also tackle alternate-history questions including what might have happened if Bon Scott or John Bonham had lived, and what Rush could look like without Neil Peart. It’s a fascinating trip through the crossroads of rock history where a single decision could have changed everything. Watch the full video interview above or listen to the audio episode below.
