Atribute act,tribute band,tribute group ortribute artist is amusic group,singer, ormusician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers whomimic the songs and style of an artist, such asElvis impersonators covering the works ofElvis Presley or groups likeThe Iron Maidens, anall-female band that pays tribute toIron Maiden.
Many tribute bands, in addition to playing the music of an artist or group, also try to emulate the vocal styles and overall appearance of that group, to make as close an approximation as possible. Others introduce a twist on the original act; for example,Dread Zeppelin playsLed Zeppelin songs in a reggae style with a lead singer dressed up asElvis Presley, whileGabba perform the songs ofABBA in the style of theRamones.Tribute bands usually name themselves based on the original band's name (sometimes with apun), or on one of their songs or albums.
In 1997, the British journalistTony Barrell wrote a feature forThe Sunday Times about the UK tribute-band scene, which mentioned bands including Pink Fraud, the Pretend Pretenders and Clouded House. In the article, Barrell asserted that "the main cradle of the tribute band...isAustralia. Starved of big names, owing to their reluctance to put Oz on their tour itineraries, Australians were quite unembarrassed about creating home-grown versions. Then, like an airborne seed, one of these bands just happened to drift to Britain." The band in question was the ABBA tributeBjörn Again, who staged a successful publicity stunt in the early 1990s, arriving atHeathrow Airport in white one-piece outfits similar to the ones worn by ABBA on the cover of their 1976 album,Arrival.[1] Other tribute acts such as The Beatnix (Beatles), Zeppelin Live, and TheAustralian Pink Floyd Show have experienced continued popularity for over a decade.
Lead singerRob Halford leftJudas Priest in 1992 and was replaced byTim "Ripper" Owens from the tribute band British Steel in 1996. This was the first publicised example of a tribute performer joining the band they were paying tribute to and was the inspiration for the 2001 filmRock Star. Owens eventually left Judas Priest in 2003 when Halford rejoined the band.[2] Later occurrences of this same phenomenon includeTommy Thayer replacingAce Frehley inKiss in 2002[3] andBenoît David replacingJon Anderson inYes after performing with a Yes tribute band called Close to the Edge.[4] Similarly, Martin Jakubski, vocalist ofMarillion tribute actStillMarillion, regularly appears in Marillion guitaristSteve Rothery's solo shows.[5]
In 2000, filmmakers Jeff Economy and Darren Hacker produced the documentary film...An Incredible Simulation, which examined the tribute band phenomenon. The title was taken from the promotion ofBeatlemania advertised as "Not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation."[6]
