What are some songs that were career ending or foreshadowed popular decline?

[TMC]

What song was the moment an artist went off the rails?

[Janice Johnson]

Originally Posted by TMC

What song was the moment an artist went off the rails?

Axl Rose got a lot of flack for One In A Million song, a song where he uses the N Word and the Fword, not the cussword, but Fa.....(A word derogatory for Gay People) . It could have ended his Career that was only two years old at the time! Axl was like,"Guys, you need to chill!" And that was in 1988 he was already getting so much flack. In 2023, he'd be cancelled over that song. Slash himself mentioned something similar recently.

[TMC]

I must add that a "jump the shark" moment for an artist doesn't necessarily mean a flop.

It can pertain to the idea that the artist has run out of ideas, or is repeating themselves, or is desperately chasing trends when they used to be leading them.

It can mean that there's just something that they've put out that has caused the worm to begin to turn, even if the masses, or the devoted fanbase, may not notice it at the time.

[Edward216]

Billy Squire's Rock Me Tonite. Well, most of the blame seems to be on the ridiculously hilarious music video that was made for the song. I've read up on the whole thing and Squire blamed the video's director Kenny Ortega while Ortega blamed Billy Squire for things going all wrong. I'm not sure what to think but I was kind of glad it basically ended Squire's career because I hated his singing and I hated his style of music anyways. Or maybe it was a combination of things but for whatever reason it seems like the whole Rock Me Tonite debacle ruined Billy Squire's career almost overnight.

Ed.

[ABlairican Pie]

Originally Posted by Edward216

Billy Squire's Rock Me Tonite. Well, most of the blame seems to be on the ridiculously hilarious music video that was made for the song. I've read up on the whole thing and Squire blamed the video's director Kenny Ortega while Ortega blamed Billy Squire for things going all wrong. I'm not sure what to think but I was kind of glad it basically ended Squire's career because I hated his singing and I hated his style of music anyways. Or maybe it was a combination of things but for whatever reason it seems like the whole Rock Me Tonite debacle ruined Billy Squire's career almost overnight.

Ed.

The video for "Rock Me Tonight" was a real dealbreaker. I hated that video. However, the song was good and I did see Billy Squire (Squier?) that fall in Seattle in 1984. This was proof that videos could make or break an artist. He did regain some airplay in 1989 with "Don't Say You Love Me".