Sometimes, it seems like rock stars live the most glorious life imaginable. Well, that’s true most of the time, if we’re being honest. They get to party for a living, are loved and adored by all the fans they come across, and make a ton of money doing it. Oh, and the groupies don’t hurt, either. Nor does the travel schedule—grueling though it may be at times, these rockers get to see the whole world. (And on the record company’s dime, no less!)
But behind the scenes, a great many rock stars struggle with their interpersonal relationships. And no, we don’t mean connections with loved ones or romantic partners, although there are plenty of those issues. We’re talking about seeing eye-to-eye with other members of their bands! Going on tour for months on end and/or being cooped up in a recording studio trying to perfect a much-anticipated album both create major stressors for musicians and their teams.
Inevitably, disagreements occur. And when they bubble up, they tend to fester. Over months (or years), those disagreements can get really, really vicious. So that’s what we’re here to take a look at today! In this list, we’ll take you through the stories of ten high-profile bands that suffered through absolutely brutal internal feuds. From the outside looking in, it might just seem to you like a few aging (and very rich) rockers getting into a catfight. But from the inside, these feuds represent years of pent-up rage, frustration, and anger. Yikes!
Related: Ten (Sometimes Tragic) Stories of Underappreciated Women of Rock
10 Metallica
The Victims of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich
The members of Metallica have fought with each other quite a bit throughout the years. In the group’s earliest days, they booted guitarist Dave Mustaine out of the band after they failed to get on the same page. He went on to found and front Megadeth—so maybe that was a bit of a miss on Metallica’s part. But their contention at the time was that he had major substance abuse problems, so they simply had to fire him. They had no other choice! That doesn’t mean Mustaine still isn’t pissed about it years later, though.
Even after more than two decades apart, Mustaine has still gone on the record at times to reveal how bitter he is that he was fired by Metallica. Take the 2004 music documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster as the perfect example of this. In it, Mustaine complained to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich about how the band canned him. And not only that, but how Dave isn’t credited with any of his musical contributions. In turn, Lars publicly slammed Dave for whining. Ulrich noted that Mustaine “never played on a Metallica record” and needed to get over a fractured band relationship that had come to an end more than 25 years prior. Not bad advice…
Mustaine isn’t the only one who’s gotten mad at Metallica, though. The group’s former bassist, Jason Newsted, has also feuded with the group in the past. Back in 2000, Jason asked the band for a hiatus so that he could work on a solo project. But Metallica chief James Hetfield denied the request, noting that he wanted Newsted in the group. Hetfield didn’t care to have the talented bassist focus all his creative energies on something that wouldn’t help the band. So, in turn, Newsted decided to quit the group. And he never forgave Hetfield for not allowing him the free reign to strike out on his own! [1]
9 Hall & Oates
“The Ultimate Partnership Betrayal” – How Hall & Oates’ Relationship Crumbled
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