5 artists who went solo during a hiatus and then came back to their bands

After Harry Styles registered some new songs on ASCAP –some of them listing him as the performer–, some One Direction fans started freaking out at the possibility of him going solo during the band’s hiatus. The CelebMix team don’t think that’s gonna happen, honestly, the boy is always making music, writing and creating new songs, we think that’s his passion and if he wants to keep on writing, that’s totally fine!

But if you still feel a little restless about this, let us remind you a hiatus is not a breakup, no matter how long it seems now, and during that hiatus, artists can continue making music and still there’s a –very– high probability of the band coming back. Harry, Louis, Liam or Niall could go solo during this hiatus, and all of them will still come back to One Direction when the break is over! And believe us, they will come back stronger than ever.

Don’t trust us yet? Well, here you have 5 examples of artists that went solo after their bands went on hiatus, and then returned with the whole band to bless us with more hits.

5: Jon Bon Jovi

Being labelled as one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, rock band Bon Jovi had been present in music industry since 1983, but they have taken many breaks during all these years. On their first hiatus, main singer and frontman Jon Bon Jovi released his first solo material “Blaze of Glory” including songs written for the movie Young Guns II, this album was awarded a Golden Globe, an Academy Award and a Grammy. The band reunited on January 1992, but took another hiatus on 1997, during this time, Jon Bon Jovi’s second solo album “Destination Anywhere”, saw the light. Bon Jovi came back in 1999, and rocked again with hits like “It’s My Life” and “Have A Nice Day”.

4: Patrick Stump

Fall Out Boy is one of the most iconic bands of the 2000’s, since the success of their single “Sugar We’re Going Down” in 2005, they were literally in everyone’s mouths. But in 2009 they were going through really dark times as a band so they just decided to give it a rest. While drummer Andy Hurley and guitarist Joe Trohman worked on many projects –such as The Damned Things– and bassist Pete Wentz formed the duo The Black Cards, the singer, Patrick Stump worked on his solo career as well. His album “Soul Punk”, on which he wrote all songs and played all the instruments, was released on 2011 receiving very positive reviews. Patrick even made a small tour around the U.S. to promote the album. Fall Out Boy came back on 2013 with “Save Rock And Roll”, one of their best albums ever, after many denied rumours of a reunion months before the album release.

3: Fergie

She joined hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas on 2002, just in time for the first major hit of the band: “Where Is the Love?” Stacy Ann Ferguson –better known as “Fergie” – has enjoyed the ups and downs of being a part of one of the greatest groups of all time. After two albums with the Peas, she released her first solo album called “The Dutchess” on 2006, under the production of her bandmate will.i.am. The Black Eyed Peas went on hiatus only months later, in 2007, giving Fergie the chance of promote her solo album. She reached high positions on the charts, the album became the first album to get five Top 5 singles in the 2000’s and the song “Big Girls Don’t Cry” gave her a Grammy nomination. We must mention will.i.am also achieved many things as a soloist during this time, making songs with Flo Rida, Nicole Scherzinger, Bono, etc. The Black Eyed Peas returned from hiatus on 2009, with the album “The E.N.D.”, one of the biggest commercial successes of the last years.

2: Julian Casablancas

On history of indie rock, The Strokes are legends. They were formed in New York City in 1998, but captured the world’s attention later, when their first album “Is This It” was released in 2001. Three albums and a lot of hits later, band members announced they needed “hibernation period” before pulling out a fourth album. Julian’s debut album came out in 2009 with the title “Phrazes for the Young”, it had generally good reviews from the critic and many songs were featured in the Gossip Girl episode “The Lady Vanished”. The Strokes’ fourth album, “Angles” was released on March 2011, and though The Strokes are still together as a band, Casablancas hasn’t stopped with his side projects (Remember Daft Punk’s “Instant Crush”?)

1: Gwen Stefani

This was obviously needed to be mentioned. Though it’s hard to define No Doubt’s style –a little bit rock, a little bit pop, a little bit ska, a little bit new wave– they’re definitely one of the greatest bands this world have ever met. They started making music in 1986, but after many years of hard work, they embarked on a hiatus in 2004. Main singer Gwen Stefani started making the music that wouldn’t fit on a No Doubt album, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.” debuted at #7 giving her six hit singles, six Grammy nominations and positive reviews. Her second solo album “The Sweet Escape” was released in 2006, giving her another Grammy Award for the title track. Despite all her success as a soloist, she said herself after her second tour that she had no more plans to continue on solo. No Doubt’s sixth studio album was released on 2012, and even though they took another hiatus later, they came back to perform at many festivals during 2015 and a new album is expected anytime.

So in the end, what would we do without some solo material during hiatus?

Do you remember more artists going solo during their band’s hiatus? Tweet us at @CelebMix to tell us!

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