Who’s Still Alive From the Original Lineup of the Animals?

Lori Acken 39 seconds ago

British pop group The Animals. From left to right: Alan Price, Eric Burdon, Chas Chandler (behind), John Steel, and Hilton Valentine. — Evening Standard/Getty Images

What To Know

From the original 1963-1966 lineup of the Animals, only two members are still alive.
The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

The gritty rock and rhythm-and-blues sounds of the Animals emerged in the 1960s during the British Invasion and continue today, with the band completing a farewell tour in Australia in 2024. The original and most famous lineup, which lasted from 1963 to 1966, consisted of the charismatic lead vocalist Eric Burdon, Alan Price (keyboard), Hilton Valentine (guitar), Chas Chandler (bass), and John Steel (drums).

Over the years, the Animals went through numerous breakups and replacements. Burdon, who is about to be 85 on May 11, led various incarnations of the band under names like Eric Burdon and the New Animals and the most current rendition, Eric Burdon and the Animals, in addition to leading many other solo projects like WAR and even a venture into writing (he penned his autobiography, I Used to Be an Animal, but I’m All Right Now, in 1986 and Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood: A Memoir in 2001). He still occasionally tours and has moved from California to Greece along with his wife and manager, Marianna Proestou.

British pop group, The Animals, performing in the 'Ready Steady Go' television studio, in Kingsway, London.

Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The original lineup briefly reunited in 1975 and recorded the album Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted, and again in 1983 for one last studio release, followed by a world tour, but disbanded again in 1984 for good.

While inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, Burdon did not attend the ceremony. He told Forbes in 2019: “I wish I’d been there at the time, but I was working abroad in Germany, and I couldn’t afford the time to be back for the ceremony. Sadly, I was only told that I’d been inducted, and that was that.”

Eric Burdon peforms at Tenco Prize 2019 at Teatro Ariston on October 18, 2019 in Sanremo, Italy.

Roberto Finizio/Getty Images

There is another related group, as well, called Animals and Friends, which features original drummer Steel along with Danny Handley (guitar, vocals), Barney Williams (keyboards) and Norman Helm (bass, vocals). They are currently touring Sweden and primarily perform the classic hits like “House of the Rising Sun,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” and “It’s My Life.” Other original members Chandler and Valentine have since passed away.

This article originally ran in the July/August 2025 Where Are They Now – Music Legends Issue of ReMIND Magazine. You can purchase it at the link below.