10 Musicians Who Made Epic Comebacks on Stage

WatchMojo

## Short Description: When careers hang in the balance, sometimes all it takes is one unforgettable performance to change everything! Join us as we count down the most incredible live shows that rescued struggling artists from obscurity. From prison concerts to iconic festival appearances, these performances didn't just entertain—they completely revitalized careers!

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most popular concerts

00:12that were considered the catalyst for struggling musicians' comebacks.

00:24Number 10. Billy Joel — Concert for Sandy Relief

00:27It didn't seem like Billy Joel's career needed saving by 2012.

00:38He had been mostly retired since 1999, living off his status as a classic rock figurehead.

00:44But after the shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School,

00:47he felt compelled to participate in a benefit concert at New York's Madison Square Garden.

00:51It's the middle of the night, guys. I go walking in my shoes.

00:57Beyond the success of the charity, viewers of the broadcast singled out Joel's half-hour rendition

01:02of his most beloved classics. He himself would credit the event with renewing his passion for

01:06live performance. Just over a year later, Joel began his 10-year residency at the venue that

01:12affirmed his continued relevance as an artist to the world. It was a comeback for the ages.

01:17Only the good die. That's what I say.

01:24Number 9. Adele — The 54th Grammy Awards

01:28The world held its breath as pop phenom Adele underwent surgery in 2011.

01:32Yeah, I had laser surgery, yeah.

01:34And what did they actually do?

01:35Put a laser down your throat, cut off the polyp, and kind of laser your hemorrhage back together and fix it.

01:41She had just released her sensational second album when the discovery of a benign polyp on

01:45her vocal cords forced her to cancel the promotional tour. The momentum of her success

01:50would hang on a performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards following her recovery.

01:54There is a fire starting in my heart.

01:58Thankfully, Adele sang Rolling in the Deep more spectacularly than ever. She also gave her voice

02:04a little extra exercise with acceptance speeches for six awards that night. Many thought it was

02:10touch-and-go in light of Adele's medical issue. The Grammys wound up being a true victory lap to cement

02:15one of the towering pop careers of the era.

02:18But you paid it, you paid it, you paid it, you paid me to the beat.

02:258. Eric Clapton, MTV Unplugged

02:29Despite regular output and acclaim,

02:31blues rock legend Eric Clapton had lost much of his relevance by the 1990s.

02:36He regressed into privacy for a time following his four-year-old son Connor's death in 1991.

02:50Clapton then returned with the soundtrack for the film Rush and an acoustic set at Bray Studios in

02:56Windsor. The performance was filmed for what would be hailed as one of the best episodes of MTV Unplugged,

03:01highlighted by a moving tribute to Connor with Tears in Heaven.

03:04The song itself won three Grammys, while an album of the concert was named Album of the Year.

03:21Clapton's comeback began with a career bestseller and has sustained with both new and classic hits ever since.

03:277. David Bowie

03:38Glastonbury Festival

03:40One of the most revered musicians of his day was perhaps getting too experimental in the 90s.

03:45Time may change me, I can trace time

03:52Many critics and fans felt that David Bowie was overcompensating for the commercialism of the

03:56previous decade. They all agreed on his triumph as the Sunday headliner at the Glastonbury

04:01Festival in 2000 for two hours. Bowie dominated the pyramid stage with a mix of his greatest hits and new

04:08masterpieces. The BBC received serious backlash for cutting the broadcast short,

04:19per an agreement with the camera shy rocker. The world would eventually witness the full concert and

04:24embrace it as one of the greatest in the history of the festival. It was the comeback of the new

04:28millennium for an artistic visionary and pop idol.

04:406. Fleetwood Mac

04:42The Dance

04:43One of the most beloved and dysfunctional bands in pop rock was

04:47shattered after the 1987 album Tango in the Night.

04:50The departure of Lindsey Buckingham, then Stevie Nicks, spelled an uncertain future for the

05:02McVees and McFleetwood. Thus, the fans' favorite lineup reunited to record a concert special for MTV

05:09at Warner Bros. studio Burbank. The Dance was a ratings hit, and the accompanying album and video

05:15went platinum a total of 26 times. The subsequent promotional tour's success, and the rekindling

05:28of creative chemistry for the new material convinced Fleetwood Mac to make their reunion permanent.

05:33A new generation would get to enjoy these legends in concert, but the dance really put their resilient

05:39greatness into perspective. 5. Elton John

05:50The Troubadour

05:51With two albums, Elton John was a rising star in the UK, and mostly unknown in the States. Through

05:58much negotiating and a pay cut, he and his new band were able to hop the pond for a six-night stint at

06:03The Troubadour in West Hollywood. They only needed the night of August 25 to make history.

06:08John's elaborate and eccentric performance prompted Robert Hilburn of the LA Times to write,

06:13he's going to be one of rock's biggest and most important stars. The critics were right this time,

06:18as John's costly gamble propelled him onto the world's stage and boosted his self-titled sophomore

06:24album into a mega-hit. This would-be flash in the pan has been the music world culture ever since.

06:294. Live Aid

06:32It's hard now to imagine that Queen was slowing down by 1985.

06:365. Goodbye everybody, I've got to go

06:41Their last two albums were so critically and commercially disappointing that they opted

06:46out of a North American tour. It's believed they were considering breaking up when they booked Bob

06:51Geldof's benefit concert for famine relief in Ethiopia. Queen's half-hour set at London's

06:57Wembley Stadium was immediately praised as the highlight of Live Aid.

07:08Over time, it's become popularly recognized as one of the most important concerts in rock history.

07:13It certainly was for Queen, who then scored the film Highlander and released the album,

07:17a kind of magic to wide acclaim. Of course, Live Aid alone dismissed any doubt that Queen would ever

07:23fall from the peak of rock.

07:253. Johnny Cash

07:34Folsom Prison

07:35Folsom Prison Blues was hardly autobiographical, but it established Johnny Cash as a uniquely edgy voice

07:42in country music. His status was nonetheless devastated by substance use disorder in the

07:51latter 1960s. After briefly retreating from the public to get clean, he mounted a comeback that

07:57played on both his bad boy image and the setting that first made him a star. Cash performed at Folsom

08:02State Prison on January 13, 1968, reviving his old trend of holding concerts for prison inmates.

08:09This time, he delivered a grit that stunned the world when a recording of the show was released

08:14four months later. Cash, formally taking control of a dark brand, thus cemented his critical and

08:20public renown for generations.

08:222. Tina Turner

08:28The Ritz

08:29In 1976, R&B superstar Tina Turner went solo after leaving her creative partner and abusive husband,

08:35Ike.

08:44The scandalous divorce corrupted the image that made the Turners, while painting Tina as a victim.

08:49She got by as a touring nostalgia act, until photographer Bob Groon captured a 1983 show at

08:56the Ritz in New York. An audience, which included David Bowie and Keith Richards, was blown away by a

09:01performance that photos couldn't do justice. Word of mouth led to a deal with Capitol Records that

09:06kicked off with Private Dancer the following year. The groundbreaking album earned Turner the title

09:11of the Queen of Rock and Roll. This reinvention was inevitable, but the Ritz is considered the site

09:17of an independent woman's great triumph.

09:19The people proclaimed me rock and roll, and so it was just forced. So it didn't matter what the radio

09:26stations were saying or were playing.

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09:421. Elvis Presley

09:48The highest-paid actor in Hollywood was more upset than the true fans about his absence from

09:53the stage throughout the 1960s. Record sales were also plummeting amidst a new age in rock music.

10:04Manager Colonel Tom Parker thus lined up a one-hour NBC special to air on December 3rd, 1968. The show

10:11simply titled Elvis was filmed at NBC Studios in Burbank with dazzling production values.

10:172. Elvis Presley

10:22More importantly, it featured a legendary showman still in his prime. 42% of television audiences

10:29tuned in to watch Elvis Presley's first concert in seven years, which really just saved his credibility

10:35and youth appeal. But the commercial resurgence on top of that makes his comeback special the

10:40definitive example of what a single concert can accomplish.

10:53Which live performances do you think best encapsulated your favorite artist's resilience?

10:59Work up the crowd in the comments!

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