List of Jefferson Airplane members

Jefferson Airplane in 1966. Clockwise from top left: Jack Casady, Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Spencer Dryden, Paul Kantner and Jorma Kaukonen.

Jefferson Airplane was an American psychedelic rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in mid-1965, the group originally featured Marty Balin (vocals, rhythm guitar), Signe Toly Anderson (vocals), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar, vocals), Paul Kantner (rhythm guitar, vocals), Bob Harvey (double bass) and Jerry Peloquin (drums).^[1]

History

Peloquin left shortly after the band's formation following an altercation with Kantner, with Skip Spence later taking his place.^[2] Before the end of the year, Harvey was also fired and replaced by Jack Casady.^[3] Spence and Anderson both left in 1966 after the recording of Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, with Spencer Dryden and Grace Slick taking their places, respectively.^[4] After the band released six US Billboard 200 top 20 albums between 1967 and 1970, Dryden left Jefferson Airplane in early 1970, partly due to an incident at the Altamont Free Concert in December 1969 in which attendee Meredith Hunter was fatally stabbed by Hells Angels member Alan Passaro.^[5]

Dryden was replaced by Joey Covington, Kaukonen, Kantner and Casady's bandmate in Hot Tuna, who had previously performed percussion on Jefferson Airplane's 1969 album Volunteers.^[6] Later in the year, violinist Papa John Creach (who had also performed with Hot Tuna) was also added to the group's lineup.^[1] Early the following year, founding member Balin left Jefferson Airplane due to "long-standing ego clashes" with Kantner and Slick.^[7] Covington left during the recording of Long John Silver in 1972, with John Barbata replacing him for the rest of the recording and beyond.^[1] David Freiberg joined for the album's promotional touring cycle.^[8]

Jefferson Airplane performed its final show on the Long John Silver tour on September 22, 1972, which effectively marked the group's disbandment despite there being no formal announcement to that effect.^[9] Kaukonen and Casady returned to performing with Hot Tuna, while Kantner, Slick, Freiberg, Barbata and Creach later formed Jefferson Starship in 1974.^[1]

Jefferson Airplane returned in 1989 with a self-titled album featuring Balin, Kaukonen, Kantner, Casady and Slick, along with drummer Kenny Aronoff and several additional guest contributors.^[10] The band toured in promotion of the release with keyboardist Tim Gorman and guitarists Randy Jackson and Peter Kaukonen (Jorma's brother).^[11] A second reunion followed in early 1996 when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Balin, Kaukonen, Kantner, Casady and Dryden performing together for the first time since 1970; Slick was unable to attend the performance due to a foot injury which prevented her from travellng.^[12]

Members

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Jorma Kaukonen	1965–1972 1989 1996	lead guitar vocals	all Jefferson Airplane releases
	Paul Kantner	1965–1972 1989 1996 (died 2016)	rhythm guitar vocals	all Jefferson Airplane releases
	Marty Balin	1965–1971 1989 1996 (died 2018)	vocals rhythm guitar percussion bass	all Jefferson Airplane releases from Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966) to Volunteers (1969) Early Flight (1974) Jefferson Airplane (1989)
	Signe Toly Anderson	1965–1966 (died 2016)	vocals	Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966) Early Flight (1974)
	Bob Harvey	1965	double bass	none
	Jerry Peloquin		drums
	Skip Spence	1965–1966 (died 1999)	drums percussion	Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966) Surrealistic Pillow (1967) Early Flight (1974)
	Jack Casady	1965–1972 1989 1996	bass rhythm guitar	all Jefferson Airplane releases
	Grace Slick	1966–1972 1989	vocals keyboards piano recorder percussion	all Jefferson Airplane releases except Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1965)
	Spencer Dryden	1966–1970 1996 (died 2005)	drums percussion	all Jefferson Airplane releases from Surrealistic Pillow (1967) to Volunteers (1969) Early Flight (1974)
	Joey Covington	1970–1972 (died 2013)	drums percussion	Volunteers (1969) Bark (1971) Long John Silver (1972)
	Papa John Creach	1970–1972 (died 1994)	violin vocals	Bark (1971) Long John Silver (1972) Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (1973)
	John Barbata	1972	drums percussion	Long John Silver (1972) Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (1973)
	David Freiberg	1972	vocals rhythm guitar	Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (1973)
	Kenny Aronoff	1989	drums percussion	Jefferson Airplane (1989)
	Tim Gorman	1989 (touring)	keyboards	none
	Randy Jackson		rhythm guitar
	Peter Kaukonen

Lineups

Timeline

See also

• List of Jefferson Starship members
• List of Starship members

References

External links

• Jefferson Airplane official website