Steppenwolf evolved from the Sparrows in late 1967 and originally included John Kay, Michael Monarch, Rushton Moreve, Jerry Edmonton and Goldy McJohn.
[1] After the release of two studio albums, Moreve was fired in early 1969 for failure to appear at several performances, with former Sparrows bassist Nick St. Nicholas taking his place.
[7] In February 1972, Steppenwolf disbanded; Kay, Henry and Biondo continued working together, while Edmonton and McJohn formed a group called Manbeast.
[8] In early 1974 Steppenwolf reformed, with guitarist Bobby Cochran joining returning members Kay, Biondo, Edmonton and McJohn.
[13] Kay reformed the band as "John Kay and Steppenwolf" in January 1980,[14] rebuilding the group with brothers Michael (lead guitar) and Steve Palmer (drums), bassist Kurtis Teel and keyboardist Danny Ironstone (Teel and Ironstone were soon replaced by Chad Peery and Brett Tuggle, respectively).