The Drifters facts: Members, songs and spinoffs of the R&B legends

6 May 2026, 14:09

The Drifters are hard to pin down, but their hits have stuck around.

The Drifters are one of the longest-running acts in the history of popular music – though there's a catch.

The band have not just gone through unmpteen lineup changes over the years, with none of the current lineup being original members, they've also spawned a number of spinoffs that were unhelpfully also called some variation of The Drifters.

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But no matter who was (or is) in the band, you can always count on excellent voices banging out some incredible hits.

And below we've taken a look at not just the ever-shifting lineup of The Drifters, but also their remarkable hits and history.

Read on for all your fast facts about the R&B and soul legends.

How and when did The Drifters form and who was in their first lineup?

The Drifters have their roots in a group called Billy Ward and His Dominoes, which featured Clyde McPhatter as its lead tenor singer and breakout star for three years from 1950.

One night, Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records visited Birdland to catch the Dominoes and noticed that McPhatter was very noticeable by his absence.

The story goes that the left immediately on the hunt for McPhatter, eventually finding him uptown and convincing him to start his own group, who would eventually become The Drifters.

The earliest group saw McPhatter backed by his church group pals from the Mount Lebanon Singers: William "Chick" Anderson, Charlie White, anDavid "Little Dave" Baughan, David Baldwin and James "Wrinkle" Johnson.

How did The Drifters break through?

Money Honey

They laid down four songs on June 29, 1953, but their first recording session didn't impress, and the first of very many lineup shuffles soon happened.

McPhatter stayed, of course, but replacing the Mount Lebanon Singers were Bill Pinkney, Andrew Thrasher, Gerhart Thrasher, Will Ferbee and Walter Adams.

Known as Clyde McPhatter and The Drivers, they recorded 'Money Honey' (written by Jesse Stone, the man behind 'Shake, Rattle and Roll') on August 9, 1953, at Atlantic Studios and released it a month later.

Lucille (with Clyde McPhatter)

The song was an R&B smash, topping that chart and eventually becoming a multi-million seller.

As it goes, the B-side on that release was 'Lucille' - a McPhatter written song featuring the first, now abandoned, version of The Drifters.

So even on their debut release, it was established how... drifting "The Drifters" lineup was.

Who have been the main members of The Drifters over the years and who has led the band?

Such a Night

Despite the immediate success of 'Money Honey', The Drifters lineup refused to stay stable.

Ferbee left the group. Adams died and was replaced by Jimmy Oliver. Some voice roles were shuffled around.

Despite the upheaval, the hits kept coming: 'Such a Night. 'Honey Love', 'Big Bam, 'White Christmas' and 'What'cha Gonna Do'.

McPhatter was drafted to the military in 1954 and soon left the group. After his service was completed he did return to music for a solo career, but the era of Clyde McPhatter's Drifters was over.

The Drifters - There Goes My Baby (Official Audio)

Clyde sold his share in the band to George Treadwell, who managed a further shifting lineup.

David Baughan took lead first. Then Johnny Moore. Singers came and went and went and came. Bobby Hendricks. Tommy Evans. Charley Hughes. Jimmy Milner.

For a while the hits kept coming. Till things dried up, and there was an unsavoury incident between a bandmember and Apollo Theatre MC Ralph Cooper.

Treadwell fired the group... and then hired a completely different band called The Five Crowns and renamed them The Drifters.

The Drifters - Save the Last Dance for Me (Official Audio)

It's worth noting that the lead singer of the Five Crowns was none other than Ben E King, who would later become a megastar as a solo artist.

In The New Drifters he was backed by Charlie Thomas, Dock Green and Elsbeary Hobbs, though James "Poppa" Clark was excluded due to his perceived issues with alcohol.

Despite audiences being wary of the totally new lineup, under writing/production duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller they had their own run of hits - so much so that many people consider this group the definitive Drifters.

Their tracks included 'There Goes My Baby', 'Dance With Me', 'This Magic Moment', 'Save The Last Dance For Me' (a pop chart number one and UK number two) and 'I Count The Tears'.

Up on the Roof (Single Version) [2017 Remaster]

But this run only lasted a couple of years.

Ben E King was denied his request for a raise and went solo. Johnny Lee Williams left as the group passed through his hometown. Rudy Lewis joined.

Still, remarkably, the hits kept coming: 'Some Kind of Wonderful', 'Please Stay', 'Up On the Roof' and 'On Broadway'.

Tommy Evans, Eugene Peterson, Johnny Terry... we couldn't list everyone who came in and out of the Drifters to this point and we're not even in the mid-1960s.

Under the Boardwalk

Rudy Lewis died the night before the sessions for 'Under the Boardwalk' leaving Johnny Moore to sing lead.

It was followed with 'Saturday Night at the Movies' but the hits dried up, while the lineup remained as unstable as ever.

Manager George Treadwell died in 1967. The Drifters left Atlantic Records in 1972. And unexpectedly, England came calling.

The Northern Soul scene here made hits out of some older Drifters songs, and they hooked up with Roger Greenaway to release a string of UK hits: 'Like Sister and Brother', 'Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies' and 'There Goes My First Love'.

The Drifters - You're More Than a Number in My Little Red Book (Official Audio)

In 1976 they scored their final hit, 'You're More Than a Number in My Little Red Book'.

Still, The Drifers drifted on. New members, old returning members (including, briefly, Ben E King), and occasional legal tussles over who exactly owned The Drifters name.

In 2007, a lineup of Peter Lamarr, Rohan Delano Turney, Patrick Alan, and Victor Bynoe played at Prime Minister Tony Blair's Farewell Party.

Who were The Original Drifters?

Here's where it gets complicated.

Some of the previous Drifters decided that they quite liked being Drifters and, after some legal wrangling, were allowed to call themselves The Original Drifters.

Of course they weren't actually the original original Drifters, but hey.

Bill Pinkey, the Thrashers and David Baughan kicked off this group, and over the years several former Drifters joined and left and joined and left, including Clyde McPhatter's son Ronald Jackson.

Bill Pinkney & Original Drifters "Money Honey" Live -1994

Amazingly, "The Original Drifters" still exist today... a lineup of Russell Henry, Chuck Cockerham, Richard Knight Dunbar, Vernon Taylor, Kingsley O'Brian McIntosh, and Joseph Turner (that's right - no original Drifters).

There were also countless other splinter groups led by the likes of Dock Green, Ray Lewis and Roy Hemmings, Don Thomas, Ronn McPhatter (Clyde's son), Bobby Hendricks, Billy Lewis, and there was a second Treadwell-managed group of old members called The Drifters Legends.

What have The Drifters got to do with Cliff Richard and The Shadows?

Cliff Richard & The Shadows - Move It (The Cliff Richard Show, 19.03.1960)

If all that wasn't confusing enough, over in the UK in the early 1950s, Cliff Richard was backed by The Drifters from 1958 to 1959.

Indeed, Cliff's first few singles were released as Cliff Richard with the Drifters: 'Move It'/'Schoolboy Crush', 'High Class Baby', 'Livin' Lovin' Doll', 'Mean Streak'/'Never Mind' and 'Living Doll'

And without the future Sir Cliff, they released the singles 'Feelin' Fine'/'Don't Be a Fool (With Love)' and 'Jet Black'/'Driftin''.

Of course, these guys had absolutely nothing to do with any of The Drifters over in the US. It was just a coincidence.

But when George Treadwell found out about The Drifters, he wasn't best pleased. So Sir Cliff's gang renamed themselves The Shadows.

What were The Drifters' biggest songs?

Sweets for My Sweet

Across all the lineups of The Drifters, their biggest songs include:

• Money Honey
• Such a Night
• Honey Love
• Big Bam
• White Christmas
• What'cha Gonna Do
• There Goes My Baby
• Dance With Me
• This Magic Moment
• Save The Last Dance For Me
• I Count The Tears
• Some Kind of Wonderful
• Sweets for My Sweet
• Please Stay
• Up On the Roof
• On Broadway
• Under the Boardwalk
• Saturday Night at the Movies
• Like Sister and Brother
• Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies
• There Goes My First Love
• You're More Than a Number in My Little Red Book

Do The Drifters still exist and who is in the current lineup?

The Drifters Tour 2025

It probably won't surprise you to learn that the Ship of Theseus/Trigger's broom of The Drifters still exists, and are still on tour.

The current lineup (we think) is Louis Bailey, Stephen Brown, Jerome Manning and Jeff Hall.