Top 10 Musicians Who RUINED Their Reputations with One Song

WatchMojo

These songs missed the mark in a major way. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 musicians whose reputations were seriously derailed by one song.

Transcript

00:00I should have kissed you longer, I should have held you stronger.

00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 musicians whose

00:11reputations were seriously derailed by one song.

00:15It's never easy, we come back and we try!

00:20Number 10.

00:21Liz Phair – Why Can't I On Liz Phair's self-titled 2003 album, the

00:27edgy singer-songwriter took a more commercial approach.

00:37It was predictably blasted by critics, and the worst offender was the lead single.

00:43Why Can't I faced immense backlash for its poppy subject matter and sound, which was

00:48crafted by production team The Matrix, who previously worked with Avril Lavigne.

00:56Inspiring comparisons to Michelle Branch and Lavigne herself, Why Can't I was featured

01:02in several rom-coms and totally went against what was expected of Phair.

01:12Her following albums, 2005's Somebody's Miracle and 2010's Funstyle, underperformed.

01:20And while Phair won some fans with 2021's Soberish, she's still been exiled from critical

01:26darling status.

01:35Number 9.

01:36Macklemore – White Privilege 2 People were happy to let Macklemore exist as

01:47the corny but well-meaning white rapper with fun songs like Thrift Shop.

01:52Winning the award for Best Rap Album over Kendrick Lamar was a bridge too far.

01:57The controversial win ignited a discussion about white artists in hip-hop spaces and

02:02how they're often rewarded over black artists.

02:10Macklemore responded to the backlash with his track White Privilege 2, where he acknowledged

02:15the advantages he reaps due to his skin colour.

02:23While he seemed to say the right things, some felt he shouldn't have said anything and

02:28instead continued to listen and learn.

02:37Number 8.

02:38B.o.B – Flatline Stars have succeeded in spite of their fringe

02:47views before, but unlike some of them, B.o.B doesn't have the catalogue to back up his

02:53controversial side.

02:55In 2015, the Airplane's rapper expressed flat-earth beliefs, holocaust denial and support

03:01for 9-11, Illuminati and reptilian conspiracy theories.

03:09He even got into a Twitter fight with Neil deGrasse Tyson, aiming his song Flatline at

03:14the physicist.

03:15The song killed any chance at B.o.B staging a mainstream comeback, being dragged by critics

03:20and receiving a scolding from the president of the Anti-Defamation League.

03:30With all said and done, it's safe to say he could really use a hit right now.

03:39Number 7.

03:40Jewel – Intuition With her 2003 song Intuition and its parent

03:45album 0304, Jewel attempted a Britney-esque dance style that alienated nearly everyone.

03:57Not only did it scare off the acoustic audience she built up in the 90s, but the lyrics seemed

04:02to be criticising her new sound while still partaking in it.

04:11Jewel also didn't seem too bothered about disguising her intentions.

04:15One of the lyrics is, considering that intuition was the centrepiece of an ad campaign by Schick

04:23Razors, that lyric struck a sour note.

04:27Although she returned to her previous sound on her next album, 2006's Goodbye Alice

04:32in Wonderland, not everyone was on board and she was ultimately dropped from her label,

04:38Atlantic Records.

04:44Number 6.

04:45Redfoo – Literally I Can't Party rocking isn't the only thing he has

04:51to be sorry for.

04:52Redfoo rose to fame as one half of the early 2010s duo LMFAO.

04:58Although they fit in with the popular party music of the time, they struggled to stay

05:02relevant as music tastes changed.

05:05Redfoo's guest feature on the 2014 Playin' Skills song, Literally I Can't, came at

05:11a moment in his career where every song counted and it was the wrong one to bet on.

05:22Not only was the maximalist EDM production dated on arrival, but his verse tells a woman

05:27to shut up and twerk instead of speaking her mind.

05:35Insulting half of your audience might not be the best idea when you're on your 14th

05:40minute of fame.

05:44Number 5.

05:46Madonna – American Life Even the Queen of Pop has an occasional court

05:55jester era.

05:57While she'd broached controversial subjects before, Madonna became more overtly political

06:02than ever on 2003's American Life.

06:10On the song, Madonna decried the shallowness of fame, but the messaging was all over the

06:16place.

06:17It lacked focus and seemed hypocritical given her continued celebrity status, and her attempt

06:22at rapping is one of the more awkward moments in her discography.

06:31American Life became Madonna's lowest charting lead single since her early career, peaking

06:36at number 37 on the Hot 100.

06:45She might have recovered for a few more albums starting with 2005's Confessions on a Dance

06:50Floor, but American Life was the first true crack in the Madonna machine and ended her

06:56imperial phase.

07:03Number 4.

07:04Robin Thicke – Get Her Back You know his lines are blurred, but that's

07:09probably the last you've heard.

07:11After Robin Thicke's 2013 hit Blurred Lines, he released the song Get Her Back and its

07:17album Paula.

07:23Both are Thicke's attempt at reconciling with his then-separated wife, actress Paula Patton.

07:29In Get Her Back, Thicke admits to his regrets in their relationship and includes alleged

07:34texts between the former couple.

07:41One exchange goes, I wrote a whole album about you, with the reply, I don't care.

07:46Unfortunately for Thicke, neither did anyone else.

07:56The song peaked at number 82 on the Hot 100, a far cry from Blurred Lines' success.

08:02Thicke has since become a panelist on The Masked Singer, but the door is closed on his

08:06days as a hit maker.

08:13Number 3.

08:14Billy Squier – Rock Me Tonight Nothing about this song seems like a reputation

08:19killer on its own, but the music video is what pushes it into train wreck territory.

08:33In an era when many rock stars maintained a so-called macho image that carried on through

08:38their songs, live performances and music videos, Billy Squier released a video that could be

08:43described as the exact opposite of that image.

08:51With cheesy choreography from future High School Musical director Kenny Ortega, the

08:55video mostly featured Squier dancing and writhing around a room by himself, while artists like

09:01David Bowie and Prince also stepped outside of the 1980s rigid gender roles, Squier's

09:07vibe change didn't go down well with many young rock fans and significantly affected

09:13sales of Squier's subsequent music.

09:21Squier says the whole thing is an MBA course in how a video can go totally wrong.

09:35Number 2.

09:36Metallica – I Disappear Metallica ending its reign would be a true

09:41Mission Impossible, but for a while there, they were pretty close.

09:51The group's song, I Disappear, was included in the second installment of the spy movie

09:56franchise and became the nucleus of a Napster drama.

10:00Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich waged war against the file-sharing site when I Disappear

10:06leaked onto it, tanking the group's reputation among music heads.

10:15After filing a lawsuit against Napster, which would eventually file for bankruptcy, Ulrich

10:21was booed on stage at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.

10:25To make matters worse, Metallica's next album, 2003's St. Anger, was considered

10:31their weakest to date.

10:33They'd make a recovery, but for a time, the group seemed hardwired to self-destruct.

10:37Number 1.

10:59Milli Vanilli – Girl You Know It's True This song would make, and break, its artists.

11:07German pop duo Milli Vanilli released Girl You Know It's True in 1988, and followed

11:16it up with a trio of number ones.

11:18However, a 1989 MTV performance of their debut hit was the beginning of the end.

11:29The track skipped, exposing the duo's lip-syncing, and a year later, it would be revealed that

11:35they hadn't sung any of their songs at all.

11:39Milli Vanilli's 1990 Best New Artist Grammy was revoked, and they even faced a class-action

11:44lawsuit, while they recorded a follow-up later, and never saw the light of day due to member

11:52Rob Pilatus' death.

11:54Not only did the controversy kill Milli Vanilli's careers, but it revealed they were built on

12:00lies.

12:04Do you think any of these songs deserve justice?

12:07Let us know in the comments!

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