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Some bands are torn apart by music. Others? By the monster at the microphone. Join us as we count down the most infamous feuds between a vocalist and the rest of their band! From ego clashes and royalty theft to violent backstage brawls and outright firings, these lead singers made life hell for their bandmates — and the drama never disappoints!
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00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most infamous feuds between a vocalist and the
00:14rest of the band.
00:15That's not counting internal one-on-one feuds like the one in Oasis or collective battles that imploded the likes
00:22of the Eagles.
00:3020. Aerosmith
00:32Steven Tyler's incredible voice and stage presence were the key to Aerosmith's success.
00:43The rest of the band never denied that, which is why they put up with the frontman's aggressive perfectionism for
00:49years.
00:50Never mind the mutual substance use which escalated tensions between him and guitar songwriter Joe Perry.
00:56It all came to public attention when Perry left the band in 1979.
01:01Thankfully, the self-identified toxic twins were able to reconcile while achieving sobriety over the next decade.
01:08Tyler has since owned up to his old hostilities, but reportedly never fully backed down from strengthening Aerosmith through conflict.
01:15I still miss you, babe, and I don't want to miss you, babe.
01:20He couldn't exactly argue with the band's outrage when he sold out to be a judge on American Idol.
01:2519. Nightwish
01:36The seminal symphonic metal band Nightwish was distinguished by Tarja Turunin's operatic vocal prowess.
01:43That doesn't excuse also keeping up the offstage diva act.
01:47This regression term has been called a valid description of Tarunin's growing cruelty and flippancy toward the band after the
01:5490s.
01:55Her ego and growing prioritization of solo work were reportedly enabled by her manager husband, Marcello Cabulli.
02:02So, in 2005, immediately following the last show in the Once Upon a Time Tour, Tarunin was handed a letter
02:09of termination.
02:10Her solo career and Nightwish's rotating lineup have since flourished.
02:14And yet, even fans still feel the sting of that cold response to Tarunin's even colder behavior.
02:20All I wish was to be free, all I wish is to be free again.
02:2818. The Brian Jonestown Massacre
02:32The 2004 documentary, Dig, aimed to explore the rivalry between neo-psychedelia bands like the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the
02:41Dandy Warhols.
02:42They got more attention for exploring the tyranny of Anton Newcomb.
02:46Is that blood on you?
02:47Yeah.
02:48From where?
02:48From people's faces.
02:49BJM was already infamous for having the occasional onstage brawl.
02:54But the frontman's brutality, even behind the scenes, has nearly overshadowed his artistic vision.
03:00It's also been a major factor in many bandmates quitting or being fired on the regular.
03:05Tensions only escalated through the years of Newcomb struggling to maintain his sobriety,
03:09until the 2023 tour was violently cancelled in the middle of a show.
03:14A health scare afterwards reportedly prompted Newcomb to become more considerate of his behavior.
03:20But his colleagues are only cautiously optimistic.
03:3117. Creed
03:33Scott Stapp has long been a pariah in alt-rock circles for his erratic behavior and substance use disorder.
03:39Not even his bandmates could really defend him.
03:42Can you take me higher?
03:48Creed found their frontman difficult to work with and resented how his egotistical persona
03:53sparked media backlash against the whole band.
03:56His increasing unreliability came to a breaking point when a 2002 concert being cut short by intoxication
04:02led to a massive lawsuit.
04:12Creed formally disbanded a little over a year later, then reformed behind Miles Kennedy as
04:17the celebrated Alter Bridge.
04:19Meanwhile, Stapp managed to turn his life and career around, if you don't count Art of Anarchy
04:24firing and suing him for breach of contract in 2018.
04:2916. Third Eye Blind
04:36Stephen Jenkins is a divisive rock star for his engaging talent and alienating personality.
04:43The latter quality took its toll on Third Eye Blind, particularly guitarist and co-songwriter
04:48Kevin Cadigan.
04:49After he was fired in 2000, he sued Jenkins for withholding royalties and forcing him out of
04:54a record deal that gave the singer legal authority over the band.
04:57Bassist Orion Salazar wasn't allowed to keep some of his equipment after he left in 06.
05:03And guitarist Tony Fredianelli left in 2010 after being pressured into supporting Jenkins'
05:09legal battle with a former manager.
05:16He then sued Jenkins for withholding royalties.
05:20Third Eye Blind has been relatively stable since then, though its controversial overlord turns
05:26a blind eye to old scandals.
05:2915. The Magic Band
05:38It's undeniably challenging to work with someone struggling with serious mental illness.
05:44Never mind when he has the extreme artistic prowess of Don Captain Beefheart Van Vliet.
05:50The avant-garde multi-instrumentalist drove away many members of the Magic Band with his creative
05:55control and sometimes physical abuses.
05:57This was supposedly compounded by paranoid delusions stemming from his unconfirmed schizophrenia.
06:04Van Vliet even forced the band to live in poverty and fealty to him while they made the iconic album
06:10Trout Mask Replica.
06:12The Magic Band finally collapsed after Van Vliet retired from music in 1982.
06:1721 years later, however, they reunited without his involvement to finally gain credit for making
06:22his unhinged vision a reality.
06:25It was terrible, and we were just always hungry and always tired.
06:30I felt exhausted all the time.
06:3314. Pink Floyd
06:35All in all, it's just a weather break in the wall.
06:41Sid Barrett was more of a tragedy than a nuisance when he was forced out of Pink Floyd following
06:46a mental breakdown.
06:47Bassist Roger Waters would helm one of the most acclaimed bands of the 70s alongside guitarist
06:53David Gilmour.
06:54But as the partnership steadily collapsed, the domineering Waters left in 1985 over creative
06:59conflicts.
07:00They weren't just with Gilmour, though, as Waters' tension with keyboardist Richard Wright
07:05went back to the band's early days.
07:20There wasn't much bad blood with drummer Nick Mason until Waters unsuccessfully sued over
07:25ownership of the name Pink Floyd.
07:27It would be many years before these musicians made amends, and even publicly expressed remorse.
07:32Still, Waters remains recognized for his ego as much as his genius.
07:3913. The Fall
07:47Mark E. Smith led the fall through the rise of the post-punk movement.
07:52His lifestyle, however, was a little too traditionally punk.
07:55Not even his own ranks were safe from his mind games, volatile behavior, and substance use
08:01disorder.
08:02Still, it's believed that he fired more bandmates than he drove away.
08:07Mark Reilly reportedly got sacked on his wedding day for dancing to Deep Purple.
08:11When the fall ended after 42 years with Smith's passing, he had been the only consistent member
08:17out of more than 60.
08:24He famously once said, if it's me and your granny on bongos, then it's the fall.
08:31Well, even your granny would have had a hard time getting along with Smith.
08:3512. Megadeth
08:38Dave Mustaine famously founded Megadeth to spite Metallica for firing him over his disruptive
08:44antics.
08:45Apparently, being in charge didn't make him much more responsible.
08:49Mustaine actually does value perfectionism in his revolutionary style of extreme metal,
08:54and has credited this with driving away many bandmates through the years.
09:04It may also have something to do with his aggression as a collaborator and a history of rowdiness.
09:10Although things settled down after he achieved sobriety in the early 2000s, the perfectionism
09:17did not settle.
09:18Bassist and fellow Christian David Ellefson compared his second firing in 2021 to being
09:24kicked out of hell.
09:25Fans can't deny the results of Mustaine's intense method store Megadeth's infamous turnover
09:31rates.
09:42The Smiths
09:47Pomposity is as synonymous with Morrissey as his innovative artistry and activism.
09:53It might be his central characteristic for the musicians who've worked with him.
09:58In just five years, the Smiths revolutionized indie music under Morrissey's artistic and
10:03financial tyranny.
10:04The band collapsed in 1987 with his creative partnership with guitarist Johnny Marr, who
10:10has never humored the idea of a reunion.
10:13Two years later, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce filed a lawsuit claiming that their
10:18shares were capped at a session musicians.
10:20When the judge ruled in their favor, he called Morrissey devious, truculent, and unreliable
10:26where his own interests were at stake.
10:29Considering the turnover rates in his backing band, it doesn't look like much has changed.
10:33Always been outspoken?
10:36No.
10:36I'm not outspoken at all.
10:38I'm really not.
10:39You're strongly opinionated.
10:41Well, I'm just an ordinary person in many ways.
10:44I just speak the words of ordinary people.
10:4710.
10:49Journey
10:49For most, Steve Perry's golden voice is inseparable from Journey, but he claims that even after the
10:56departure of original lead singer Greg Raleigh, he never felt like a real part of the band.
11:01Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling.
11:08During the 80s, when he first left, he did so of his own free will, failing after a push
11:14to gain creative control of the group.
11:16Eventually, the feeling just got very clear to me that I need to just stop, and I didn't
11:22know where I was going.
11:24I didn't know what I was going to do or where I was going to go.
11:27But in 1998, when he left again, that cold relationship between him and the other members
11:32was a lot more pronounced.
11:34After Perry injured himself in a skiing accident, he refused to rush into the surgery required
11:39to get him back on stage.
11:41When he left again, Journey acted fast and hired a sound-alike, Steve Ogieri, to replace
11:47him.
11:53Number 9.
11:54The Smashing Pumpkins
11:56Billy Corgan might be one of the leading figures of alternative rock, but he's certainly
12:01a difficult character.
12:02For me, being in a band is like being in a family.
12:05And the family rules apply more than the band rules.
12:07You might know him as a pretty outspoken figure in the press, a guy who is never shy about
12:13dissing his fellow musicians.
12:15But his work as frontman of the Smashing Pumpkins brings with it some other problems.
12:21Corgan, to put it lightly, likes to be in control.
12:24And he was so particular about every element of his work that he basically pushed bassist
12:29Darcy Retsky out of recording sessions for their seminal album, Siamese Dream.
12:34I don't think the real story is as interesting to people as the story they want.
12:38And if I feed into that, then I sort of create this never-ending woulda, coulda, shoulda.
12:43Corgan insisted on re-recording her tracks himself.
12:46By the time their follow-up album came, Corgan was actively pushing everyone out.
12:52Retsky eventually left and the band themselves broke up in 2000.
12:56It was like just different lanes of commitment in my mind, but I'm more appreciative as time
13:01has gone by that everybody approaches music completely differently.
13:04It wasn't permanent though, as the band reunited in the mid-2000s and went through multiple
13:10line-up changes, with Corgan as the only constant member throughout.
13:15Number 8, Talking Heads.
13:17The problem with genius is that it often comes at a cost.
13:22I've come to love collaborating with people.
13:24I feel like when it works, you get, you know, one plus one equals three.
13:30You get something bigger than the sum of the parts.
13:34It doesn't always work, but when it does, that's what you get.
13:37For Talking Heads, ask any member of the band about what it's like to work with frontman David Byrne,
13:43and you're likely to be told he's a truly odd person.
13:47Byrne was described as incredibly cold, while totally determined to take every ounce of power he could within the group.
13:54I remember decades ago, I was more my way or the highway.
14:00So I'll work with you, but I'm going to tell you what you're going to do.
14:05And you don't always get the best.
14:08It can work, but you don't always get the best results.
14:11Byrne, who describes himself as being on the autism spectrum, found it difficult to empathize with his bandmates' wishes,
14:18rarely made eye contact, and would be critical of any success his peers had outside of Talking Heads.
14:25Bassist Tina Weymouth, and guitarist Jerry Harrison in particular, had very few kind words about him as a collaborator,
14:32leaving the idea of a reunion at next to impossible.
14:35How did it feel when you guys were up there together?
14:38It was fun, but it was tense.
14:40Yeah.
14:42I remember there were some musical mistakes that drove me around the band.
14:49Number seven, Skid Row.
14:51For Skid Row and their singer Sebastian Bach, to say things were volatile would be an understatement.
15:02A band like that was never going to have a long prime run.
15:07Though they hit big early, Bach's ego was an issue.
15:10And in 1996, he was fired from the band after a disagreement following his decision to book them as the
15:16opening act for Kiss without consulting the others.
15:19It was the beginning of the end for the band pretty much, even more than the beginning of the end.
15:23It's like…
15:24Was it like infighting and the band was like…
15:27Yeah, the band was just falling apart.
15:29For one thing, it showed that Bach has little regard for his bandmates.
15:33And on top of that, their bassist Rachel Bolin was already booked that night for a gig with a side
15:38project.
15:39Whatever happened behind closed doors on that night?
15:42It was the final nail in the coffin for Bach's time with the group.
15:45But I always get this, you know, when are you going to get the band back together, the reunion tour
15:49and all that thing.
15:50And I'm thinking, you know, he's going to say, you know, he goes, and I go, yeah, you know, promoters
15:55are waiting.
15:55And Sean Penn goes, dude, I've been waiting for that.
15:58Number six, Dead Kennedys.
16:01One of the biggest sins a musician can commit against their fellow bandmates is taking their money.
16:07Let's move them out!
16:10Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra found himself in a legal battle due to non-payment of royalties that he owed
16:16his bandmates.
16:17Biafra, who was head of record label alternative Tentacles, had seemingly withheld $75,000 in royalties over the course of
16:25a decade.
16:26I mean, I was getting sued up the ass by the now estranged former members of Dead Kennedys because I
16:32didn't want to put Holiday in Cambodia in a Levi's commercial.
16:34As soon as the others found out, they were understandably furious.
16:38According to a whistleblower, Biafra actually discovered the payment mistake and concealed it from the band.
16:43He was eventually forced to pay $200,000, and as you might expect, the relationship between the band and their
16:50former singer has never healed.
16:52Also made it such an ugly situation, I've refused to ever perform with them again.
16:56Number five, Van Halen.
16:59Stylistic differences within a band generally boil down to musical decisions.
17:03Judging from some of my peer group, I'm not sure I would hand them the responsibility.
17:08But in the case of rock and roll wild man David Lee Roth and the rest of Van Halen, not
17:13so much.
17:14Roth firmly believed that the band needed to put more effort into their look and their onstage presence.
17:20Sounds like a pretty fair suggestion, right?
17:22What happened with the old band is after a while, you know, that kind of activity slows down a little
17:29bit.
17:29Well, when the singer hired a photographer to shoot him in a very risque, bondage-influenced fashion for their next
17:36album cover, the band were not happy.
17:38The rest of them very clearly wanted to put their music first.
17:42But Roth's superficial priorities and constant showboating onstage were becoming a problem and eventually he left to pursue a solo
17:49career.
17:50But what happens is they get very bitter and very angry and very harsh and that's not why I joined
17:55the music.
17:56Number four, Queensryche.
17:58Every band has their breaking point.
18:00And despite years of being one of the most successful progressive metal bands of their era, Queensryche found theirs in
18:072012.
18:09Empire!
18:14Singer Jeff Tate was reportedly involved in a violent backstage altercation with the rest of the group that got him
18:20fired.
18:21Because we had kind of a bitter breakup.
18:24And I guess I was very angry over how it was handled.
18:29Prior to that, he installed his stepdaughter to run the band's fan club and his own wife as their manager.
18:35The others obviously felt that their voices were being diluted within the band and so they decided to fire Tate's
18:42family members without consulting him.
18:44This led to the fight and eventual tensions that saw Jeff get fired shortly after.
18:48A total mess on all fronts.
18:51A lot of water is under the bridge now and I can be a lot more forgiving of people.
18:56Number three, Credence Clearwater Revival.
19:00When things get so bad that your lead singer won't even let you attend your own induction into the Rock
19:06and Roll Hall of Fame, you know that the band is beyond saving.
19:09He said, besides, you know, I don't care.
19:12I don't care about the music.
19:14Just give me the money.
19:15Oh, God.
19:16And I look at him.
19:18There wasn't much more to say after that.
19:20But that was right there was the reason I didn't play at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with
19:25him.
19:25Here's the thing.
19:27Credence Clearwater Revival singer John Fogerty was clearly onto a winning formula during the band's heyday.
19:32The problem was that he ran the band as a dictator.
19:36He simply didn't believe that his bandmates could bring forth the type of ideas that could contend with his.
19:41In fact, internally, within me, I felt like everything was going great.
19:47By the end, they kind of hated him for it.
19:49Eventually, Fogerty's brother Tom left the group and they imploded.
19:53Shortly after, John Fogerty described CCR as a ticking time bomb.
19:58And in the end, they only sustained their success for about four years.
20:02I thought I had discovered the formula.
20:06This is how this works for us.
20:08Number two, The Beach Boys.
20:10The Beach Boys were, without question, one of the defining bands of the 1960s.
20:17A boundary-pushing group of musicians who perfected many genres.
20:28But at their core, they were a deeply troubled band.
20:32When their main creative force, Brian Wilson, descended into a substance-fueled downfall that damaged his mental health irreparably, his
20:39bandmate, Mike Love, grew impatient.
20:42He didn't always get along, maybe 100%.
20:45But music was the bond that brought everybody together.
20:49Love, as some of you will know, is by no means a beloved figure in rock history.
20:54But after getting tired of waiting for Wilson to recover, he decided to carry on without him.
21:00For decades, Love was involved in legal battles and petty squabbles over songwriting credits.
21:05But in reality, the general consensus was that Love always had a problem playing second fiddle to legitimate genius.
21:12He thought I was angelic.
21:15Are you angelic?
21:16Yeah.
21:17You are a little bit angelic.
21:28Before we continue, check out this single from SoundMojo's album current, EDM Transformed.
21:33Check out the full track and album below.
21:501.
21:51Guns N' Roses
21:52When a band has cycled through as many members as Guns N' Roses had, you just know that something's wrong.
21:59Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are ready.
22:03The 1980s saw G&R climb just about as high as any band could possibly climb.
22:09But at the center of it all, Rose's vices and rapidly growing ego were getting out of hand.
22:15He battled for attention, creative control, and ultimately, every inch of power he could claim.
22:20He fought his bandmates, most notably guitar slash, to the point that they quit.
22:25It wasn't even me necessarily leaving the band.
22:28It was not continuing on with the new band that Axl put together that he was now at the helm
22:34of, which was the new Guns N' Roses.
22:36A band that volatile was never going to survive for long.
22:40And with Axl's unpredictable and downright chaotic behavior, the fact that they even survived after their first album is a
22:47miracle.
22:47You've got a situation where nobody involved wants to revisit.
22:52It's not just me, it's the whole band.
22:56Who are some other unexpectedly or infamously difficult band leaders?
23:01See the show in the comments below.
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