Solo stars bigger than their bands

Lauryn Hill She may have garnered a name for herself while being the lead singer of The Fugees in the early '90s, but it was her solo effort, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (1998) that solidified her mark on the music industry. The album was nominated for an astounding 10 Grammys and made history as the first hip hop oriented album to win Album of the Year. Check out which other stars proved to be more popular than the bands they started in. (Reuters)

Iggy Pop Iggy was part of The Stooges before his growing drug addiction ultimately broke up the band. They broke up and got back together several times over the years, but Iggy ultimately always did better on his own. (Reuters)

Gwen Stefani Gwen Stefani left No Doubt in 2004 to record the seven-times platinum solo effort "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." They're 2012 reunion album didn't even crack a mil and they had to pull a video for one of the singles for being insensitive to Native Americans. Oops. (Reuters)

Michael Jackson The late King of Pop is perhaps the ultimate example of someone who was bigger than his original group. Way bigger. Sure, the Jackson Five had huge hits like "ABC" and "One Bad Apple," but Jackson had the biggest selling album of ALL TIME with "Thriller." Checkmate. (AP)

Rod Stewart Rod Stewart first became famous as the frontman for the British rock group The Faces, but he became an international superstar with hits like "Maggie May" and "Hot Legs" all by his lonesome. (Reuters)

Nick Lachey Nick lucked out by marrying Jessica Simpson. He transcended his band 98 Degrees and became a reality star sensation with their show "The Newlyweds," then he used his breakup with Simpson to start his solo career, scoring several hits about being broken hearted. His band mates from 98 Degrees haven't had any similar level of success since their split, so they are probably pretty stoked that the band is getting back together to tour this summer. (Reuters)

Beyonce Knowles Beyonce got her start with the girl group Destiny's Child before going solo, and going multiplatinum. Her first solo effort, "Dangerously in Love" was certified four times platinum and sold more than 11 million copies worldwide. Her follow up album "B'Day" was certified three times platinum. Which makes it odd when she performed with her former band at the Super Bowl. (Reuters)

Ozzy Osbourne Its hard to believe that one could get more famous by leaving the most famous heavy metal band of all time, Black Sabbath. But that's just what happened when Ozzy split with his band in 1978 and let his then girlfriend (now wife) Sharon manage his solo career. Now that's a good girlfriend. (Reuters)

Stevie Nicks This one's a little tricky. Fleetwood Mac had the biggest selling album of all time (at the time) with "Rumours" in 1977. Nicks then began her solo career in 1981 with a bang, as her first solo album, Bella Donna, hit #1 on the Billboard charts. Since then, Mac has done very little except touring on their past successes, while Nicks has become a classic rock mainstay, recording eight solo studio albums on her own. Advantage: Nicks. (Reuters)

Joan Jett Jett was a founding member of the legendary all-female punk rock group The Runaways, but her career really took off after the band disbanded in 1975. Joan put together a backing band, The Blackhearts, and had a string of #1 rock hits, including the classic "I Love Rock and Roll." (Reuters)

Tom Petty Petty is another interesting one. He and his backing band The Heartbreakers are one of the biggest bands in the world, but Petty's greatest commercial and critical success came with his solo album "Full Moon Fever," which went quintuple platinum. And everyone knows the attractive, but relatively unknown singers in his other band, The Traveling Wilburys, were just eye candy, with Petty leading the way. (Reuters)

Fergie Fergie took a break from her band The Black Eyed Peas to record her solo effort "The Duchess" in 2006. It was a good idea, as the album had five Top 5 singles. (Reuters)

Eric Clapton The singer and guitarist was part of several great bands, including The Yardbirds, The Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith. But then he launched his solo career in 1970 and became the preeminent blues rocker on the planet, with hits like "Layla" and "You Look Wonderful Tonight." Oh yeah, and "Crossroads." That one's pretty good, too. (Reuters)