Musical Dads of Musical Kids

When George Harrison died in 2001, son Dhani finished making the album that the ex-Beatle was working on at the time. Dhani performed (with fellow musical son Jakob Dylan) on a John Lennon tribute album in 2007, and appears (as Ayrton Wilbury) on two unreleased Traveling Wilburys tracks. He fronts his own rock band, thenewno2.

Best known as drummer and vocalist with The Band, Levon Helm has also acted in several movies, and is still making music with the Levon Helm Band, one of whose members is his daughter Amy. She is also a vocalist and mandola player the Americana roots band Ollabelle, who have released three albums, the first of which was produced by fellow roots music artist T-Bone Burnett.

With worldwide album sales exceeding 150-million, five Grammys and membership in multiple music halls of fame, Billy Joel has pretty much "done it all" as a rock star, including marrying a supermodel, Christie Brinkley. The two (later divorced) are the parents of Alexa Ray Joel who, like her father, is a singer-songwriter who plays piano. She released a six-song EP in 2006, and performed with her dad at Barack Obama campaign events in 2008.

Being the sons of John Lennon was a virtual guarantee of inheriting musical talent. Both Julian (whose mother is Lennon's first wife, Cynthia) and Sean (whose mother is Yoko Ono) are singer-songwriter-musicians with successful solo careers.

After getting attention as part of a popular duo (Loggins & Messina) Kenny Loggins launched a successful solo career as a singer-songwriter. Son Crosby Loggins released an album in 2007 with his band, The Light. After winning MTV's reality show, Rock The Cradle in 2008, the singer-songwriter recorded a solo album for release in 2009. Musical influences in addition to his dad include his dad's pals, Jackson Browne and Michael McDonald.

Bob Marley brought ska and reggae to worldwide prominence before his death in 1981. Five Marley sons are perpetuating their dad's musical influence.

Ricky Nelson's successful singing career was abruptly cut short when he died in a plane crash in 1985. Twin sons Gunnar and Matthew carried on the teen idol tradition performing as Nelson, a glam metal band. Recently, the sons have also begun performing covers of some of dad's songs.

Dad worked his way into heavy metal legend with Black Sabbath. With the help of the exposure gained from an MTV reality series on the Osbourne family, daughter Kelly released three albums, one of which featured a duet with her dad that was a #1 hit in the UK.

Dad was one of the "Papas" in The Mamas and the Papas in the late '60s. Daughter (whose mother is "Mama" Michelle Phillips) has carried on the family tradition as a member (with musical kids Wendy and Carnie Wilson) of Wilson Phillips, who released two multi-platinum albums in the early 1990s.

It was Mike Pinder's mastery of the Mellotron that gave Moody Blues their orchestral rock flavor. A founding Moodies member, he also contributed vocals and lyrics to the band's distinctive musical identity. Sons Matthew and Michael Lee are The Pinder Brothers, a California-based rock band with a two album catalog that distinctly reflects their dad's musical influence.