The greatest ever Classic Rock trios

12 November 2025, 17:36 | Updated: 12 November 2025, 17:43

Sometimes three really is the magic number: here are some of the most memorable three-pieces in rock history from Motörhead and ZZ Top to The Police and Grand Funk.

By Radio X Classic Rock

@xclassicrock

1. ZZ Top

   The classic line-up of vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard was in business between 1969 and Hill's death in 2021. From their blues-rock roots to their 1980s mainstream pop prime, the trio have sold an estimated 50 million records. Hill was replaced in the limne-up by Elwood Francis.

   

2. Motörhead

   The trio that made the classic 1980 album Ace Of Spades were Lemmy (bass, vocals), Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor (guitar) and "Fast" Eddie Clarke (drums). "You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools / But that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live for ever."

   

3. Crosby, Stills & Nash

   David Crosby of The Byrds, Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and sole Englishman Graham Nash of The Hollies came together in 1968 to create some beautiful music, including Suite: Judy Blue Eyes and Marrakesh Express. They later added Stills' Buffalo Springfield colleague Neil Young as a full member.

   

4. Stray Cats

   The New York rockabilly revivalists are comprised of singer Brian Setzer, bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom, nailing three British hits in the early 1980s: Runaway Boys, Rock This Town and Stray Cat Strut.

   

5. Rush

   The Canadian prog pioneers began life in 1968 with the line-up of Alex Lifeson on guitar, Jeff Jones on bass and John Rutsey on drums, but the legendary Geddy Lee soon replaced Jones, and the equally legendary Neil Peart replaced Ritsey in 1974. This power trio recorded the classic albums 2112, A Farewell To Kings and Permanent Waves, before going on hiatus in 1997. Following a reunion in the early 2000s, the three musicians continued as the core members of Rush until Peart's untimely death in January 2020.

   

6. Genesis

   The original line-up of the British progressive rock titans was a five-piece: singer Peter Gabriel, keyboard player Tony Banks, bassist Mike Rutherford, guitarist Anthony Phillips and drummer Chris Stewart. By the time of the third Genesis album, Nursery Cryme in 1971, the group featured Steve Hackett on guitar and Phil Collins on drums; it was this "imperial phase" line-up that took the band through the likes of Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound and the ambitious concept album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

   When Gabriel went solo in the summer of 1975, Collins stepped up to become vocalist, while Hackett left in late 1977, leading the next Genesis album to be titled ...And Then There Were Three... The trio of Collins, Rutherford and Banks was now the core of the group that took Genesis into 1980s pop superstardom, with a run of five number 1 albums, including Duke (1980), Abacab (1981) and Invisible Touch (1986).

   

7. The Police

   The original threesome that made up The Police was frontman Gordon Summner aka Sting and American drummer Stewart Copeland, alongside guitarist Henry Padovani. After a debut single, Fall Out, Padovani was replaced by Andy Summers on guitar. With the line-up now in place, the group went on to sell over 75 million records worldwide, with four British Number 1 albums and five Number 1 singles.

   

8. Grand Funk Railroad

   To quote Homer Simpson, this hard rocking Michigan trio featured: "The wild shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner, the bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher and the competent drumwork of Don Brewer. Their biggest-selling album was 1973's We're An American Band.

   

9. James Gang

   The Cleveland, Ohio-based psych rockers originally featured Joe Walsh on vocals and guitars, Tom Kriss on bass and Jim Fox on drums. Kriss was replaced by Dale Peters after their debut Yer' Album, while Walsh left at the end of 1971 for a successful career, including a stint with Eagles. Later James Gang line-ups moved away from the power trio formation.

   

10. Emerson Lake and Palmer

    Keith Emerson of The Nice, Greg Lake of King Crimson and Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster operated as a prog rock supergroup between 1970 and 1979, reforming in the 1990s and again in 2010 for a 40th anniversary show at London's Victoria Park. Emerson died in March 2016 and Lake also passed away in December that year.

    

11. The Jam

    Bruce Foxton, Rick Buckler and Paul Weller were the angry, angry young men that made up Woking's greatest exponents of the 1970s mod revival.

    

12. Beck, Bogert and Appice

    A short-lived supergroup that featured ace guitarist Jeff Beck, bassist Tim Bogert and his Vanilla Fudge colleague Carmine Appice on drums. The trio made one eponymous studio album in 1973.

    

13. Cream

    Another supergroup and blues rock trio, this time featuring the legendary Eric Clapton on guitar, former Bluesbreaker Jack Bruce on bass and ex-Graham Bond Organisation drummer Ginger Baker. They called time on their brief career with a famous farewell concert at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 1968.