Why 40 of Rock’s Biggest Reunions Haven’t Happened

Neil Sedaka is wrong. Breaking up is not all that hard to do. With very few exceptions, every major rock band has endured at least one breakup or major lineup change during their career.

These events almost always leave fans clamoring for more, for a reunion of their favorite band or their favorite lineup of a particular band, even if the breakup was the result of tragedy.

After John Bonham’s death in 1980, Led Zeppelin issued a short statement declaring that they were finished: “We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.”

You can’t get more clear than that, right? And yet can you imagine there’s been a single week in the decades since where one of the three surviving members isn’t asked about a reunion?

Of course, sometimes time does heal wounds, and the bands or lineups reform and enjoy success, often as older, wiser and more mature versions of their younger selves. But sometimes it just isn’t meant to be. “The thing that fans don’t ever consider is the unpleasantness of how the relationships within the band function,” Ann Wilson of Heart told the Washington Post in 2024. “If the band split up, there was a reason for that.”

READ MORE: 10 Ugly Band Breakups

The gallery below lists 40 of the biggest rock reunions that are still technically possible, and explains who is holding out and why in each case. There are some judgment calls that had to be made in terms of the bands included and excluded from this list. As strange as it is to think of Led Zeppelin without Bonham, it has happened at three benefit shows over the years. But it seems safe to rule out bands such as the Beatles, the Band, the Doors, Van Halen and the Cars, since one or more of the primary creative forces in those groups are sadly no longer with us.