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One wrong note can ruin everything! Join us as we count down the musicians who demolished their careers with a single song. From ill-advised lyrics to shocking music videos, these artists made decisions they'd forever regret. Which musical disaster do you think caused the most damage?
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 musicians who
00:08managed to do huge damage to their reputation as a result of a song they released.
00:1920. Right Said Fred, I'm Too Sexy
00:31If you end up becoming a one-hit wonder, it makes it hard to truly make a real statement
00:36about your artistic intentions. For Right Said Fred, sure, they made a lot of money and gained
00:41a lot of exposure from their song I'm Too Sexy. However, the fact that the track was
00:46totally tongue-in-cheek seemed to go over a lot of people's heads. The song is very
00:50clearly ironic and incredibly camp, but the group found it damn near impossible to be
00:54taken seriously afterwards. That song followed them for decades, making all other efforts
01:00on their part fall short by comparison.
01:0319. Gene Simmons, When You Wish Upon A Star
01:15One song that lands firmly in the category of, why does this even exist, is Gene Simmons'
01:21version of When You Wish Upon A Star.
01:23When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are.
01:37Though the Kiss musician's demon persona was used as the cover for his ill-fated 1978 solo album,
01:44this song was a far cry from the hard rock that made his name. To this day,
01:48Simmons is a divisive figure, a guy who well and truly splits people down the middle. Even his biggest
01:55fans have a hard time defending this track, though. Simmons didn't have the voice or the sincerity
02:01he needed to make this cover work. It really begs the question of why he even did it in the first place.
02:2618. Seals and Crofts, Unborn Child
02:31Who knows what compelled the soft rock duo Seals and Crofts to make such a bold statement about abortion
02:37just one year after the landmark Roe v. Wade case of 1973.
02:41Oh, little baby, you'll never cry, nor will you hear a sweet love-bye.
02:58The United States had just opened up a very sensitive conversation about autonomy and a
03:03number of other subjects when the band's sixth album, Unborn Child, dropped. The record's title
03:09track was a very blunt anti-abortion anthem, which immediately alienated a huge portion of their
03:15audience. From that point on, their momentum took a large hit. They still had some chart successes,
03:21but with that track, they certainly pushed away some listeners who would never fully return.
03:26Number 17. Lil Wayne, Karate Chop
03:39When Lil Wayne featured on the remix of Future's track Karate Chop, it didn't necessarily seem like
03:45a lot could go wrong. Yet he somehow decided to write a lyric that would lose him millions of dollars.
03:51Comparing his prowess in the bedroom to the infamous lynching of the 14-year-old
03:55Emmett Till in 1955 was a truly bizarre misstep from the usually quick-witted rapper.
04:03Papa got a pain pill, bout to put rims on my skateboard wheel.
04:08The public were genuinely baffled that Wayne chose to go down this route, and
04:13though he did apologize, there was no taking it back.
04:16Even on a surface level, most people agreed that it was a pretty crappy line to begin with.
04:25Number 16. Duck Sauce, Big Bad Wolf
04:29There was no avoiding Duck Sauce's breakout hit Barbra Streisand when it first came on air back
04:35in 2011. It was a fun and simple dance floor filler that did very little to try and disturb or
04:41offend anyone. However, the group's follow-up Big Bad Wolf was something entirely different.
04:55The song itself wasn't the issue. Although it did fail to live up to the splash of its predecessor,
05:00it was the music video that really left this one with its reputation. We can understand going for
05:05shock value and gross-out humor, but this is truly the type of video that you only ever want to watch
05:12once. The duo never had any chart success of note ever again after this one.
05:18Number 15. Kid Rock, Don't Tell Me How to Live
05:34We'll admit that there was something kind of funny about watching the 50-year-old Kid Rock
05:38complaining about people telling him how to live. This track, which was very aptly titled Don't Tell
05:44Me How to Live, didn't really tell you anything new about Kid Rock or his style. In fact, listeners
05:50were quick to point out how little he appeared to have evolved after over three decades in the industry.
05:55Corny lyrics, a cringe-inducing music video, and the most copy-and-paste guitar riff imaginable
06:02left Rock as a laughing stock by the time the dust had settled.
06:05No list of the most ill-advised and poorly thought-out lyrics in music history would be
06:20complete without a mention for Rick Ross on Rocko's U-O-E-N-O. We've heard rappers bragging about
06:26all manner of things over the years — violence, dealing, murder, and you name it. For some strange
06:32reason, Ross decided to boast about slipping an illegal substance into a girl's drink and then
06:38taking advantage of her. There was no dual meaning here either. He literally ends each sentence by
06:50confirming that she had no idea what was happening. Even though he apologized and tried to backtrack,
06:56Reebok immediately ended its endorsement deal with him.
06:5913. Moby
07:02We are all made of stars
07:10There was no denying that Moby broke into the mainstream with his monumental album,
07:15Play. That record introduced an entire generation to a style of music that had predominantly lived
07:21underground up to that point. However, in the wake of the tragic September 11 attacks of 2001,
07:27Moby made an infamously ill-advised career misstep. The overly preachy and sentimental
07:33we are all made of stars effectively killed Moby's last shred of underground appeal. It also came off as
07:39inauthentic to the mainstream, leaving him with an overall dud on his hands.
07:4312. Fergie
07:52The Star Spangled Banner
07:54Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light
08:07Okay, we're going to cheat with this one. Fergie, of course, was not responsible for writing the
08:12American national anthem. However, her absolutely dreadful performance of the Star Spangled Banner
08:18at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game has… well and truly… stuck out as a career-defining moment.
08:24The Black Eyed Pea singer is by no means a bad vocalist, but she had an off night on the worst
08:30possible stage. Her attempts to reinvent the wheel fell nearly as flat as her notes, and even though
08:35she made a public apology, one does not so easily rebound from such a calamitous performance.
08:42Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
08:56Number 11. Tiffany
08:58I think we're alone now
09:00Let me hear your heartbeat, let me hear your heartbeat
09:04Let me touch your heartbeat, I can change your heartbeat
09:08It's hard to look at the career of teen pop icon Tiffany and call,
09:12I think we're alone now, a failure. It was her biggest hit and an enduring classic of 80s pop.
09:17However, the song and its reputation pretty much branded Tiffany for life,
09:21becoming irreversibly linked to the singer. No matter how hard she tried to pivot,
09:26it was nearly impossible to make any real splash. R&B, country, soft rock, electronica,
09:32she tried them all. Unfortunately, stepping out of the shadow of that bubblegum-infused
09:37teen pop mega-hit was seemingly a bridge too far.
09:47Number 10. Vanilla Ice
09:50Ice Ice Baby
10:00If there's one big musical no-no that is all but guaranteed to do harm to your reputation, it's
10:05stealing other artists' ideas. Vanilla Ice already had his critics when he burst onto the scene and
10:11his huge hit Ice Ice Baby was already perceived as inauthentic by many. However, the biggest problem
10:17he had was the fact that the song's bassline was ripped note-for-note from David Bowie and Queens
10:23under pressure, to make matters worse. Despite the lawsuit and major blow to his credibility, he still
10:29tried to defend it as an original composition, arguing that it had one extra note. Unless he
10:35was actively trolling everyone, this was a laughably bad excuse, if you ask us.
10:40Take heed, cause I'm a lyrical poet. Miami's on the scene, just in case you didn't know it.
10:45My town, that created all the bass sounds. Another shake and kick holes in the ground,
10:49cause my style's like a chemical spill.
10:50Number 9. Macklemore
10:53White Privilege 2
10:54Pulled into the parking lot, parked it, zipped up my parka, joined the procession of marchers.
11:00People were happy to let Macklemore exist as the corny but well-meaning white rapper with fun
11:05songs like Thrift Shop. But winning the award for Best Rap Album over Kendrick Lamar was a bridge
11:11too far. The controversial win ignited a discussion about white artists in hip-hop spaces and how they're
11:18often rewarded over black artists. Macklemore responded to the backlash with his track,
11:28White Privilege 2, where he acknowledged the advantages he reaps due to his skin color.
11:39While he seemed to say the right things, some felt he shouldn't have said anything
11:44and instead continued to listen and learn.
11:47We take all we want from black culture, but will we show up for black lives?
11:52Number 8. B.O.B. Flatline
12:00Stars have succeeded in spite of their fringe views before, but unlike some of them, B.O.B. doesn't
12:07have the catalog to back up his controversial side. In 2015, the airplane's rapper expressed flat-earth
12:14beliefs, Holocaust denial, and support for 9-11, Illuminati, and reptilian conspiracy theories.
12:24He even got into a Twitter fight with Neil deGrasse Tyson, aiming his song Flatline at the
12:30physicist. The song killed any chance at B.O.B. staging a mainstream comeback, being dragged by
12:35critics and receiving a scolding from the president of the Anti-Defamation League.
12:40Indoctrinated in a cult called science, and graduated to a club full of liars.
12:45With all said and done, it's safe to say he could really use a hit right now.
12:50Number 7. Chumbawumba
12:58Tub-Thumping
13:05Most of you might not be aware that Chumbawumba were a lot more than their frat anthem tub-thumping
13:10might suggest. The group had an inexplicably anarcho-punk edge to them prior to the song's
13:16explosion on the charts. Unfortunately, it was very easy for people to pigeonhole the band
13:21after hearing their biggest hit. This left the world with a narrow view of what Chumbawumba were
13:27and what they stood for. To this day, the majority of listeners probably hear their kind of goofy
13:31band name and immediately see them as something of a joke. All in all, that's a very difficult label to
13:37shed.
13:46Number 6. Red Food
13:49Literally, I Can't
13:51Party rocking isn't the only thing he has to be sorry for. Red Food rose to fame as one half of the
13:58early 2010's duo LMFAO. Although they fit in with the popular party music of the time,
14:04they struggled to stay relevant as music tastes changed. Red Food's guest feature on the 2014
14:11playin' skills song, Literally I Can't, came at a moment in his career where every song counted,
14:18and it was the wrong one to bet on.
14:25Not only was the maximalist EDM production dated on arrival, but his verse tells a woman to shut up
14:31and twerk instead of speaking her mind. Insulting half of your audience might not be the best idea
14:41when you're on your 14th minute of fame.
14:47Number 5. Madonna, American Life
14:51Do I have to change my name? Will it get me far? Even the queen of pop has an occasional court jester
14:59era. While she'd broached controversial subjects before, Madonna became more overtly political than
15:05ever on 2003's American Life. This type of modern life, is it for fear?
15:13On the song, Madonna decried the shallowness of fame, but the messaging was all over the place.
15:19It lacked focus and seemed hypocritical given her continued celebrity status,
15:24and her attempt at rapping is one of the more awkward moments in her discography.
15:34American Life became Madonna's lowest charting lead single since her early career,
15:39peaking at number 37 on the Hot 100.
15:42She might have recovered for a few more albums starting with 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor,
15:53but American Life was the first true crack in the Madonna machine and ended her imperial phase.
16:00Number 4. Robin Thicke, Get Her Back
16:10You know his lines are blurred, but that's probably the last you've heard. After Robin Thicke's 2013 hit
16:16Blurred Lines, he released the song, Get Her Back, and its album, Paula.
16:21I never should have raised my voice or made you feel so small.
16:27Both are Thicke's attempt at reconciling with his then-separated wife, actress Paula Patton.
16:32In Get Her Back, Thicke admits to his regrets in their relationship,
16:36and includes alleged texts between the former couple.
16:39All I wanna do is keep it alive, keep it alive, keep it satisfied.
16:44One exchange goes, I wrote a whole album about you, with the reply, I don't care.
16:49Unfortunately for Thicke, neither did anyone else.
16:53All I wanna do is give you that thing, play you that song you and your girlfriend sing.
16:59The song peaked at number 82 on the Hot 100, a far cry from Blurred Lines' success.
17:05Thicke has since become a panelist on The Masked Singer, but the door is closed on his days as a hitmaker.
17:11I gotta get it, go, get it, go, get it, go, get it tonight.
17:15Number 3.
17:17Sticks, Mr. Roboto
17:23Managing the creative direction of a band can be tough work.
17:26For Sticks, they spent most of their early life with a style that had elements of progressive rock
17:32mixed with arena rock.
17:33However, tensions were growing beneath the surface as the years went on, despite some
17:38chart success.
17:39It was their 11th album that ended up producing their biggest hit, Mr. Roboto, a synth-laden
17:44pop song that outsold anything they had ever done.
17:48Core fans were alienated and eventually the group temporarily split up.
17:52Even when they did reform, they didn't perform the track for 35 years, which tells you
17:57everything you need to know about their feelings on it.
18:08Number 2.
18:10Metallica, I Disappear
18:12Metallica ending its reign would be a true Mission Impossible, but for a while there, they
18:18were pretty close.
18:24The group's song, I Disappear, was included in the second installment of the spy movie franchise
18:30and became the nucleus of a Napster drama.
18:33Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich waged war against the file-sharing site when I Disappear leaked onto it,
18:40tanking the group's reputation among music heads.
18:43Then I went up, then I went down down that road
18:49After filing a lawsuit against Napster, which would eventually file for bankruptcy, Ulrich was booed on
18:55stage at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. To make matters worse, Metallica's next album,
19:012003's Saint Anger, was considered their weakest to date. They'd make a recovery, but for a time,
19:08the group seemed hardwired to self-destruct.
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19:32Number 1. Milli Vanilli, Girl You Know It's True
19:36This song would make and break its artists.
19:44German pop duo Milli Vanilli released Girl You Know It's True in 1988
19:49and followed it up with a trio of number ones. However, a 1989 MTV performance of their debut hit
19:56was the beginning of the end. The track skipped, exposing the duo's lip-syncing,
20:06and a year later, it would be revealed that they hadn't sung any of their songs at all. Milli
20:12Vanilli's 1990 Best New Artist Grammy was revoked, and they even faced a class-action lawsuit.
20:18Girl You Know It's True
20:20While they recorded a follow-up later and never saw the light of day due to member Rob
20:25Palatis' death, not only did the controversy kill Milli Vanilli's careers, but it revealed they were
20:32built on lies. But which ill-fated musician springs to your mind first when this topic comes up?
20:43Let us know in the comments below.
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