The greatest ever Indie Supergroups

27 May 2025, 17:51

What is it about the supergroup? Is it just some celebrity mates messing about, or can some real magic be found when superstars get together?

By Radio X

@RadioX

Read more:

• 15 of the greatest Classic Rock supergroups
• 15 musicians who were fired from Classic Rock bands

1. Electronic

   After the split of The Smiths and during some downtime with New Order, Mancunian guitar legends Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr decided to work together on a project with the unexpected title of Electronic. Their first hit, Getting Away With It, featured Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant on guest vocals. The duo released three albums, which occasionally featured Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk and Jimi Goodwin of Doves.

   

   Electronic - Getting Away With It

2. The Last Shadow Puppets

   Alex Turner: the wit and inspiration behind Arctic Monkeys; Miles Kane: former member of The Rascals, who forged a solo career; James Ford: Simian Mobile Disco producer. The result: two elaborate, baroque, theatrical indie rock albums: The Age Of The Understatement (2008) and Everything You’ve Come To Expect (2016).

   

   The Last Shadow Puppets - Miracle Aligner (Official Video)

3. Dr. Pepper's Jaded Hearts Club Band

   Muse’s Matt Bellamy, Miles Kane, Chris Cester from Aussie rockers Jet, Ilan Rubin from Nine Inch Nails and Sean Payne of The Zutons put together this Beatles cover band for guitarist and actor Jamie Davis’s birthday… and soon found themselves supporting The Who and playing host to Paul McCartney himself. Here’s Miles Kane telling Gordon Smart how it all got started.

   

   DR PEPPERS JADED HEARTS CLUB BAND 'HELTER SKELTER'@ RAH, LONDON 2018

4. Them Crooked Vultures

   Do you like to ROCK? Then you will have loved Them Crooked Vultures, who consisted of Big Dave Grohl, his Queens Of The Stone Age pal Josh Homme and legendary Led Zeppelin bassist, arranger and producer John Paul Jones, who cooked up some ridiculously loud riffing for a series of shows and one self-titled album in 2009.

   

   TCV_Gunman_LiveAtRockpalast.mov

5. Atoms For Peace

   Thom Yorke of Radiohead and the endearingly eccentric Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers - together at last! This pair joined forces with ‘Head producer Nigel Godrich, some time R.E.M. drummer Joey Waronker and David Byrne sideman Mauro Refosco. They released one album, Amok, in 2013.

   

   Atoms For Peace - Ingenue

6. The Good The Bad And The Queen

   A cheeky bit of wish fulfilment for Damon Albarn, as the Blur man joined a band with Clash hero Paul Simonon for an eponymous album in 2007. Also along for the ride were Verve guitarist Simon Tong, drummer Tony Allen and ace producer Danger Mouse. And some nice hats.

   

   The Good, The Bad and The Queen - Kingdom Of Doom [Official Music Video]

7. Temple Of The Dog

   The Grunge Supergroup! Following the collapse of Mother Love Bone after the death of frontman Andrew Wood, Seattle’s leading lights got together to pay tribute to their former colleague. Involved were Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam. They released one, self-titled album in 1991 and regrouped 25 years later to perform it again.

   

   Temple Of The Dog - Hunger Strike

8. The Dead Weather

   The bluesy-indie-rock end of the supergroup spectrum, this American band formed in 2009 around Jack White, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs. Following the release of Horehound in 2009, the combo released two more albums: Sea Of Cowards (2010) and Dodge And Burn (2015).

   

   The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother (Video)

9. The Breeders

   Kim Deal of the Pixies joined forces with fellow 4AD artist Tanya Donnelly from Throwing Muses when the two bands toured together. Following a debut album in 1990 titled Pod, Kim’s twin sister Kelley joined the band for the more commercially successful Last Splash in 1993. In 2018, the line-up that recorded Last Splash reconvened for a new album, All Nerve.

   

   The Breeders - Cannonball

10. Hindu Love Gods

    Founded in 1984, the Hindu Love Gods were essentially R.E.M. plus Warren Zevon of Werewolves Of London fame and Athens Georgia musician Bryan Cook. Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry were the back up band for Zevon's 1987 album Sentimental Hygiene and while that was being recorded, the troupe knocked out ten blues covers (and Prince's Raspberry Beret) that weren't intended for release, but appeared in 1990 as Hindu Love Gods' solitary, self-titled album. "We never thought it would be a real record," said Mills. "We didn't think about it for another three years, then all of a sudden his manager decided he wanted to make a record out of it."

    

    Hindu Love Gods - Raspberry Beret - video

11. The Glove

    In September 1979, The Cure were supporting post-punk icons Siouxsie & The Banshees on a series of UK dates. When the Banshees' guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris quit the band midway through the tour, Cure frontman Robert Smith stepped in to be their guitarist for the rest of the shows. It was only a temporary fix, but Smith and Banshees bassist Steven Severin began a long friendship. In November 1982, the Banshees lost another guitarist (John McGeoch) and Smith became a full-time member, as The Cure had pretty much imploded after their intense Pornography album earlier that year. Siouxsie Sioux and drummer Budgie went off to create a side project, The Creatures, in early 1983, leaving Smith and Severin to cook up The Glove: a psychedelic parody named after a character from The Beatles' Yellow Submarine cartoon. The pair employed a singer, Jeanette Landray, to manage most of the vocals, and issued one album in September 1983: Blue Sunshine. The duo never played live and never followed it up; Smith and Severin went back to their respective bands.

    

    The Glove - Like an Animal