https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/worst-decisions-in-music-history-1234626744/elton-john-goes-disco-1979-1234629432/

Horrible business moves, artistic blunders, deeply questionable moral judgment — with appearances by Adam Levine, Kiss, Kanye West, and many more

BY ANDY GREENE

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

IN THE WORDS of the 18th-century poet Alexander Pope, to err is human. But most of us regular humans make mistakes on pretty small scales, like leaving our house keys at work or forgetting to order fries in the drive-through. When rock stars screw up, they do it in epic, spectacular ways, with consequences that are often catastrophic.

They can lead to decades of bitter questions: “What if I didn’t wear that pink tank top in the music video? What if I didn’t say we were bigger than Jesus? What if I hadn’t given the Nazi salute at that British train station?”

But there’s no take-backs in life. Rock stars, like the rest of us, have to live with the consequences of their actions forever. In this list, we look back at the long history of rock stars’ ****ups and call out the 50 biggest ones. To be clear, we limited this largely to professional decisions that impacted careers. Many rock stars have done horribly destructive things when it comes to drugs or their treatment of women, but that’s a whole other list.

THE TOP 10:

10. Billy Squier obliterates his career with one cheesy music video (1974's 1984's “Rock Me Tonite”)

9. U2 give their new album away for free in iTunes (2014)

8. Ja Rule invests in the Fyre Festival (2017)

7. Blood, Sweat & Tears do a tour sponsored by the U.S. government at the height of the Vietnam War (1970)

6. Kayne West kicks off his “total *******” era by interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs (2009)

5. Woodstock Organizers celebrate event’s 30th anniversary with a horrific riot (1999)

4. Eric Clapton goes all-in on vaccine conspiracy nonsense (2020)

3. Decca Records passes on signing the Beatles (1962)

2. Jerry Lee Lewis marries his underage cousin (1958)

1 - The Rollings Stones hire the Hells Angels as security guards for their rock festival (1969)

I remember when Garth Brooks tried to release new music under the Chris Gaines name. What I heard wasn't bad. It was just that no one could get used to his appearance being so different. :D :D :D

God bless you and him always!!!

Holly

What a waste of magazine space

What a waste of magazine space


Just Rolling Stone living up to their worthless legacy.

Interesting article. (Wont do all of these, promise....)

#1 Yeah, Altamont was horrid. The idea of having a mass concert with literally hundreds of thousands in a "rock festival" was a new and exciting concept, but it was a large "learning curve" to know how to do it correctly. Sorry, but the original Woodstock was a disaster in many ways. The show lost lots of money, the fans were stranded for days without adequate facilities, bad weather, band cancellations, or groups starting many hours after their scheduled time, not to mention being in a rural area of small communities that were absolutely overwhelmed overnight with a half a million people. It was a logistical nightmare and incredibly only (I think) only two or three people died, one overdosed and one was ran over by a large vehicle with the kid asleep on the ground.

But Altamont was nuts. First, make it free? Second, having the Hell's Angels (of all people) work security at the show? Supposedly the Hell's Angels were paid in beer. So there are tens of thousands of crowded and packed people with violent drunk criminals securing the venue, what can go wrong? For starters, the Angels killing a guy and other mayhem. I think this actually helped the Rolling Stones in the end, giving them a reputation, and served to bring them into the 1970's when harder rock acts like Black Sabbath and others came into being.

Even though now there are shows like Chowchella and Bonnaroo which happen every year and are successful, there are still disasters like the Frye Festival (which was basically a ripoff), Woodstock '99 (#5 on list, there is a good documentary on this online and that was mayhem, criminal violence, rape and arson) and Astroworld just a few years ago, where people were crushed to death.

#2 Jerry Lee Lewis married his underage cousin. The worst part of this was that the girl was 13 years old. Like, in 7th grade. She actually bore (that moron) Jerry Lee a child at 15. Jerry Lee should have been outed (and he was) as a pedophile more than incest. The girl in question was Jerry's cousin, once removed, as in the child of Jerry's cousin. If she was 18 today, this marriage would be legal in all fifty states.

#9 That was cool of U2 to offer their album free of charge on Apple, unfortunately it was a few years too soon.

#10 Billy Squier was one of the worst solo acts ever. I used to hate listening to his crap songs on the radio. But that was back in the stone age where radio was the only medium to listen to songs. If you want to torture someone, tie them to a chair and play "Everybody Wants You" loudly over and over for hours on end.

#12 Unfortunately for us, the members of Credence Clearwater Revival hated each other. John Fogerty was the lead singer, writer and didnt need the other two guys. He really didnt and most of his solo stuff was great

#16 Could'nt blame Metallica over their stance on Napster. However, I wish we had the technology now back when I was a kid in the 1980's, I could have saved hundreds of dollars on albums since now I can just go to Youtube or my phone application and listen to albums for free.

#28 Van Halen. Now this was the Beatles of my generation, at least the original lineup. What I have read is that Eddie was the cause of most of the friction between the two other players who werent his brother. I liked both incarnations. The Roth era for me was teenage party music. The Hagar era was when the teenagers grew up, got married and had jobs. The Gary Cherone thing didnt work out, but I have read Cherone didnt have hard feelings and was honored to be a lead singer for VH, even if it was for a short and forgettable time. Eddie ran off Michael Anthony to bring in his teenage son (who despite being his kid and not paying "his dues" is an excellent musician whose father even said is better than him, and Wolfgang now is lead of Mammoth, basically a VH tribute band). Eddie even ran off his wife, Valarie Bertinelli (and that has been discussed before on this forum, Search to find the thread).

#30 Spin Doctors...Another band's music to use to torture a subject locked in a room loudly for days.

#43 Ticketmaster or what most people call "Ticketbastard" was one of the worst companies of all time, because of their ridiculous "fees". This is one reason (of many) I no longer went to concerts. At least Eddie Vedder tried valiantly to go against this monopoly because he knew how awful this company truly was. The ticket buying system now is no better and even arguably worse now (as expressed in the article), but at least now, people dont have to stand outside in the cold like proles in a Soviet bread line.

Music is art, art is subjective. So It's hard to be too harsh of the "artistic direction" blunders they list, because each could have been one simple twist of fate away from being recognized as "brilliant"

I'm surprised that Deep Purple didn't make the list? Sold more records than anybody in 1973, but decide their egos are more important than the music.

Jerry Lee Lewis always seemed to set the standard for what I considered depraved....my whole life long. Yet today there is a whole slew of things we are indoctrinated to regard as "normal" that I view with very similar apprehension And there are legions around me who would condemn me just for having my own view on the matter. People like to judge, makes us who we are...or aren't

Considering what passes for music these days I would gladly listen to Billy Squier for hours on end. Speaking of Billy, how about a little Christmas music?


QPf2snTB2wo

I've long suspected that Rolling Stone "spikes" their lists with outliers, just to generate buzz. Gives them an idea of if people are reading them, or not.

Considering what passes for music these days I would gladly listen to Billy Squier for hours on end. Speaking of Billy, how about a little Christmas music?


QPf2snTB2wo

No thanks. I always hated Billy Squier too. I hate his style of music and I don't think he could sing at all.

Ed.

Interestingly, one of my older brothers had a copy of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Mardi Gras in his record collection when I was growing up.

Ed.

No thanks. I always hated Billy Squier too. I hate his style of music and I don't think he could sing at all.

Ed.

Fine by me.