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This question arrived after conversing about the spontaneous variety that is Les Claypool. I ask in terms of artists (whether they are, or have been, a singer, guitarist, or bassist, pianist, or any other artist) that has/had a lead role in more bands than any other front man.
As I do not listen to every single genre, or am not familiar with every single band, I figured I'd ask a community of well-rounded, diverse, experienced listeners.
There are many "front men" who fronted one or two bands that were famous, early in their careers, and then went on working for decades with a long series of obscure bands that never gained much fame and that you've never heard of. So if we were to list their names it might not mean much to you.
By the same token, there are many "front men" who began their careers by singing with a long series of bands who played local clubs in their home towns and never got a recording contract, never put out an album, and typically each band did not have a long history. And then the singer joined a band that became famous. So for every "front man" you could name, it's highly likely that they sang in a dozen bands before the singer became a star. Do we know the names of all of these early bands at the beginning of the stars' careers? No, we don't.
For these reasons, it's not practical to crown a winner in this category of yours because the category has to be very loosely defined.
That notwithstanding, here are some of the biggest names in British hard rock:
Joe Lynn Turner has been the front man for:
Fandango
Rainbow
Yngwie Malmsteen
Deep Purple
Mother's Army
Brazen Abbot
Hughes Turner Project
Sunstorm
Jan Holberg Project
Rated X
Graham Bonnet has fronted so many bands I can't list them, so look up his Wikipedia page.
This is a tough question to answer, as it depends on the definition of the word "band". Did they have to have toured? Did they have to record an album? Did they have to have more than one actual member? Is the front man considered a member of his backup band, i.e. is James Brown a J.B. or Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band? Etc. etc. etc. That having been said, let's give it a shot.
Les Claypool is definitely up there, as the front man of seven bands:
He also has a solo album or two among his discography, usual featuring himself playing a number of instruments and some guest appearances for a track or two by various musicians.
Another musician who has been in a lot of bands is Bill Laswell. Looking through his discography, it's tough tell how many of the groups and bands he has been in would actually qualify as a "band", and how many of those "bands" he has actually led.
Bootsy Collins has also led a number of bands. In addition to being an important member of the J.B.'s, Parliament, Funkadelic, and Praxis, he has led the following bands:
As for Dave Grohl, he has been in a large number of bands as well, and it seems he has led or co-led most of the bands and projects he has been involved with since the dissolution of Nirvana. These include:
He has also drummed with Queens of the Stage Age and Tenacious D since Nirvana ended.
Another musician who is up there is Sammy Hagar, who has been in a number of bands, and as the lead singer has been the front man of pretty much all of them.
We also have Robert Plant, who has fronted five bands
As @papakias mentioned in his answer, Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree has also fronted a number of bands.
There's also the little known musician Paul McCartney, who has fronted
You also have George Clinton, who has been leading bands/groups/collectives since the 1950s.
Those are the only prolific frontmen I've been able to think of for the time being; I'll add more if think of anyone else.
Steven Wilson has been the frontman of:
Apart from playing 17 instruments or more, he’s been involved with
Mike Patton. The bands I know of are: Faith no more, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantômas, Moonchild Trio, Kaada/Patton, Dead Cross, Lovage, Mondo Cane, and Peeping Tom.
Not a frontman, but one of my favorites is Dave Navarro (guitar, of course): 12 bands
Travis Landon Barker is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer for the rock band Blink-182
born November 14, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. Barker has also performed as a frequent collaborator with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transplants, founded the rock bands +44 and Box Car Racer, and most recently joined Antemasque and Goldfinger. He was a frequent collaborator with the now-late DJ AM, and together they formed TRV$DJAM. Due to his fame, Rolling Stone referred
