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  • 2 years ago
These live music performances fell flat. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the worst live performances ruined by the artist or crowd.
Transcript
00:00And the Rockets' red glare
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo!
00:09And today we're counting down our picks for the worst live performances ruined by the artist or crowd.
00:14I don't wanna feel like I did that day
00:2220. Sex Pistols
00:24Winterland Ballroom
00:26Some groups go out with a bang and others go out with a whimper.
00:35During the Sex Pistols' infamous 1978 United States tour, they ran into a series of issues.
00:41Things eventually reached a boiling point while at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
00:46Right before the encore, Johnny Rotten announced they'd only be doing one song.
00:51A cover of the Stooges' No Fun.
00:57What followed was an oddly accurate performance, where a jaded Rotten used the lyrics as a representation of his own negative feelings towards the group.
01:09You're no fun, my babe, you're no fun.
01:15After the lackluster cover, Rotten cryptically asked the crowd if they'd ever felt cheated,
01:20before storming off and ending the show and his time with the band until their reunion in the late 1990s.
01:27Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night.
01:3219. 50 Cent
01:34The 7th BET Awards
01:36Performing at an award show can be a benefit to an artist's career, as they get to present their art to a live and televised audience.
01:48It seemed like 50 Cent was off to a great start when he descended into the 2007 BET Awards.
01:54But it soon became clear something was wrong.
01:57He skipped the entire first verse, opting to hop off the stage and do some crowd work instead.
02:06While he was eventually able to recover, the damage was already done.
02:15When questioned about it afterwards, the rapper ended up pinning the blame on the aerialist who inadvertently bumped him, throwing him off track.
02:23While it was an understandable explanation, it still doesn't make the near minute of silence mid-performance any less uncomfortable.
02:3618. The Pussycat Dolls
02:38The 34th American Music Awards
02:41Sometimes, all it takes is one performance to reveal a true group dynamic.
02:51Headed by Nicole Scherzinger, the Pussycat Dolls were known for their sultry lyrics and dancing.
02:56During their appearance at the 2006 American Music Awards, they began their hit, Buttons, without one of their members, Melody Thornton.
03:07Things had been going wrong already, with one of their chairs toppling over mid-song.
03:12Things went from odd to bizarre when Thornton suddenly ran on stage just in time for the final chorus, and immediately commanded attention with several vocal runs.
03:29The rest of the performance became a battle for the spotlight between the two divas.
03:33The timing made it seem like Thornton was crashing her own group, making it evident just how fractured they were.
03:4517. Madonna
03:47The 64th Eurovision Song Contest
03:50Even the Queen of Pop isn't immune from flopping.
03:53An icon like Madonna performing a huge event like Eurovision should have been a highlight, but it ended up being the complete opposite.
04:04It wasn't her best vocal showing, with even one of her most iconic hits, Like a Prayer, sounding off-key.
04:10The addition of divisive political symbols only made things worse.
04:14What made things even worse was her team's reaction.
04:17Rather than own the underwhelming appearance, they instead uploaded a completely auto-tuned version on YouTube.
04:23People soon saw through the ruse when the real audio was released.
04:33In an era where practically everyone has access to a video camera and internet, we can't help but wonder who they were trying to fool.
04:4616. Lana Del Rey – Saturday Night Live
04:50Although it's hard to believe now given her huge fanbase, her career nearly died just as it was beginning.
05:03Lana Del Rey's sudden ascension to success in the early 2010s led to her getting plenty of opportunities, including being the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.
05:13Things immediately went wrong during a performance of her breakout hit, Video Games.
05:18Her unique vocal techniques didn't translate well, resulting in a slightly disjointed and seemingly uncontrolled presentation.
05:29Her second song, Blue Jeans, didn't go much better, resulting in her being deemed one of the worst in the show's history by some on the network.
05:38While she was eventually able to overcome the rough set, to this day, she's still reluctant to perform on live TV.
05:5015. Green Day – The Second iHeartRadio Music Festival
05:54Even if someone's anger is justified, seeing them act out on it publicly is nothing short of uncomfortable.
06:01Green Day was mid-song at the iHeartRadio Festival in 2012 when their lead singer, Billy Joe Armstrong, suddenly snapped after assuming that their time was being cut short.
06:11He stopped performing and launched into an expletive-ridden rant, complete with pulling rank and calling out newer artists.
06:21When they inevitably ran out of time, Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt smashed their instruments and walked off.
06:27The spectacle was so intense that the band issued an apology in an announcement that Armstrong was going to rehab.
06:33It was a dark moment, but luckily they were able to reconcile with the event just a few years later.
06:4314. Britney Spears – The 24th MTV Video Music Awards
06:472007 was undoubtedly a rough year for the princess of pop.
06:57With several different familial issues going on at the time, the MTV Video Music Awards were most likely the last thing on her mind.
07:05Still, she showed up to perform her newest hit, Gimme More, although by the end, some were asking for the exact opposite.
07:16From the beginning, her lack of energy was apparent and even appeared to be half-heartedly lip-syncing.
07:22It was clear she was just going through the motions, resulting in a completely out-of-character performance.
07:27She was slighted by critics and her peers, and while she was able to recover professionally,
07:32it became an unfortunate representation of the personal and mental struggles she was facing.
07:4313. Oasis – Whiskey A Go-Go
07:46They're as well-known for their dramatics as they are for their sheer musical ability.
07:51It's no secret that the Gallaghers, the brothers behind Oasis, have an explosive relationship.
08:04That's been apparent since their first tour, when one infamous concert nearly caused them to call it quits.
08:09Liam had indulged in some chemical encouragement prior to the show, and by the time he hit the stage, it was clear just how intoxicated he was.
08:22The result was a truly chaotic night, where the singer reportedly mocked the audience and even struck his older brother with a tambourine.
08:29While the crowd didn't seem too mad, the same couldn't be said for Noel, who ended up being so upset that he temporarily quit the band.
08:4212. Roseanne Barr – Jack Murphy Stadium
08:52It's no secret that comedians push boundaries to get laughs, but there's a time and place for everything, and during the Star-Spangled Banner isn't one of those times.
09:01While kicking off a game between the San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds, she was tasked with singing the anthem.
09:07As soon as she took the mic, things went wrong.
09:11She immediately began screaming the lyrics, later claiming it was because she couldn't hear herself.
09:17As if that wasn't enough, she topped off the rendition with vulgar gestures, in an attempt to parody the players.
09:24However, it only served to make her look even more disrespectful.
09:27The backlash was severe, with even the president at the time, George H.W. Bush, calling it a disgrace.
09:4111. Kanye West – Saturday Night Live
09:46He's known for his eclectic shows, but for this one, he bit off a little more than he could chew.
09:55In the original version of Love Lockdown, Kanye utilized autotune to help with the sound.
10:00When it came time to perform the piece on Saturday Night Live, he attempted to emulate that by singing through a vocoder.
10:11It didn't translate well to a live setting, with the autotune only being apparent some of the time,
10:17and his higher notes being cut out and replaced entirely by a random female vocal.
10:26A decade later, another SNL appearance, in which he wore Trump merchandise and expressed support for the divisive politician, was also problematic.
10:4110. Caroline Marcille – Quebec Coliseum
10:46It's one thing to sing the national anthem poorly, it's another thing entirely to not know it at all.
10:59When Caroline Marcille stepped up to perform at a 2005 hockey game, it was clear how nervous she was.
11:05That became more apparent when she had to restart twice due to her forgetting the lyrics.
11:15She was determined to finish, even with the crowd already viciously booing her.
11:19She left to get the lyrics, and when she returned, she immediately slipped and fell.
11:23That ended up being the final straw.
11:29When she left the ice again, she didn't return.
11:32While it was a disaster, what makes it worse is that her voice sounded fine, meaning she could have pulled it off had she known the words.
11:43While she completely rebranded herself in recent years,
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