Tribute Acts - which band/ act is covered the most?

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The Beatles - Photos:Elly Roberts
The Beatles
Photos:Elly Roberts

Finally, the answer to that age-old question that has been bothering modern mankind is upon us: “just who is the most popular artist/ band to have a tribute act?”.

Well, wait no more, as I can reveal the answer exclusively here. I remember seeing a bit of the BBC show “One and Only” a few months back, and was amazed to hear them announce that Robbie Williams was the UK’s act with the most tributes. There were five words which popped into my head at the time, and they started with “What a load of” – you get the picture. They stated that there were even more Robbie Williams tribute acts than Queen. Well, if there are, they keep themselves to themselves, as they have never graced the web pages of the UK’s premier gigs-listing site [that’s this one, right? – Ed]. I’m not sure if it’s a Graham Norton thing, as the other show which I (just happened) to see a while back was that “Joseph” one, where Mr Norton announced that some dude was going to “sing the Tom Jones song ‘Kiss’”. Oh dear, was my reaction at that. So, now, you cover a song and it becomes yours, right?

Anyway, I have digressed a bit, where were we? If you are wondering what makes us sure that we have the definitive answer to this troublesome question, it’s due to the fact that we have just a few bands listed on this site (14401 – count ‘em!) – some of whom happen to be tribute acts – a fact that we record being the cunning little data squirrels that we are. This article is based on the tribute bands we have listed – 457 of them – all of whom are a tribute of 177 acts [giving us a 2.58 band average per band – Ed “statto”].

OK, they say that flattery is the sincerest form of flattery, so let’s find out which band is the most flattered. Coming in at top of the pops it’s no surprise to see the Fab 4, who have a stonking 27 tribute acts, including The Overtures, Backbeat Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Only Dartboard Band, Silver Beatles, The Cavern Beatle (some of whom can be seen at this year’s International Beatle Week in Liverpool – see related article).

Second spot is taken by Abba, who have a not inconsiderable 25 tribute acts/ shows, including Australian act Bjorn Again, Mamma Mia, Abba Mania, Thank You For The Music, Abba Re:Bjorn. Coming in with a bronze medal are Pink Floyd with a respectable 23 tribute acts including Irish Pink Floyd Show, Crazy Diamond, Australian Pink Floyd, Floyd 2 and Think Floyd.

Similar to yesterday’s “most influential” list, the top ten here only includes one “almost contemporary” act – U2. One thing that I notice from this list is that the Australians have probably the best showing of any non-UK country, contributing: Australian Pink Floyd, The Australian Beatals and Bjorn Again.

So, where’s all of the Robbie Williams tribute acts, then? Well, he’d be well down the list, being that we only have two tribute acts listed for him. If you know of other acts (including Robbie Williams tribute acts), then please do send over their details – we’re always looking into expanding our database.

  1. The Beatles: 27 acts, including:
    • The Overtures, Backbeat Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Only Dartboard Band, Silver Beatles, The Cavern Beatles
  2. Abba: 25 acts, including:
    • Bjorn Again, Mamma Mia, Abba Mania, Thank You For The Music, Abba Re:Bjorn
  3. Pink Floyd: 23 acts, including:
    • Irish Pink Floyd Show, Crazy Diamond, Floyd 2, Just Floyd, Off the Wall
  4. Elvis: 20 acts, including:
    • Elvis In Concert - the Vegas Years, Shawn Klush - The Worlds Greatest Elvis, Elvis In Concert, Elvis On Tour - the Legend Continues, Mario Kombou as Elvis
  5. Led Zeppelin: 15 acts, including:
    • Lez Zeppelin, Led Zep Too, Ledd Zepp, Letz Zep, The Levee Breakers
  6. Queen: 14 acts, including:
    • We Will Rock You, Another Kind Of, Magic, Queen on Fire, One Night of Queen, Flash Harry
  7. U2: 13 acts, including:
    • Elevation, U2UK, Joshua U2, Rattle and Hum [UK], U2's
  8. The Who: 9 acts, including:
    • The Overtures, My Generation, Who's Next, Brighton 65, The WHOligans
  9. Frank Sinatra: 8 acts, including:
    • Stephen Triffitt, The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas, Louis Hoover's Salute to Sinatra, Just to be Frank, Perfectly Frank
  10. Genesis: 8 acts, including:
    • Musical Box, Genesis Relived, Genesis - Selling England by the Pound, Los Endos [Genesis Tribute], G2 Definitive Genesis
  11. AC/DC: 8 acts, including:
    • AB/CD, Hell's Bells, Dirty DC, Livewire, Whole Lotta AC/DC
  12. Blondie: 8 acts, including:
    • Atomic Blondie, Bootleg Blondie, Atomic, Once More Into the Bleach, Call Me
  13. Red Hot Chili Peppers: 8 acts, including:
    • Ded Hot Chili Peppers, Mild Green Chilli Peppers, Really Hot Chilli Peppers, Red Hot Chili Peppers Tribute, Red Hot Silly Feckers (gotta love that name!)
  14. Rolling Stones: 7 acts, including:
    • The Counterfeit Stones, Bog Rolling Stones, Rollin Clones, The Rollin Cloned, Rollin' Stoned
  15. Metallica: 7 acts, including:
    • Metalica UK, Metallitia, Tallica, Brutallica, Mentallica
  16. Black Sabbath: 7 acts, including:
    • Black McSabbath, Slack Sabbath, Return to Sabbath, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, The Sabbath
  17. Bee Gees: 6 acts, including:
    • The World of The Bee Gees, Bee Gees Fever, Bee Gees Magic, Taste of Honey
  18. Blues Brothers: 6 acts, including:
    • Chicago Blues Brothers, Green Onions - The UK Blues Brothers, Jake & Elwood [Blues Brothers Show], Sounds Of The Blues Brothers, Blues Brothers Experience (UK)
  19. David Bowie: 6 acts, including:
    • Jean Genie, The Bowie Experience, Ashe 2 Ashes, Changes Bowie, Fake Oddity
  20. Meatloaf: 6 acts, including:
    • Maet Loaf, The Dead Ringer From Hell, The Meat Loaf Trilogy, To Hell and Back - Dean Torkington, Meatloaf 2

Daniel O'Connell

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