What shitty things have your favourite bands/artists done?
Discovered recently that Electric Wizard were kinda dicks back in the day.
"At the time, we were pretty bad people. I got arrested for arson of a car, outside a police station. Tim [Bagshaw] went to nick a crucifix off a church roof so we could use it onstage..."
R. L. Burnside killed a man "possibly at a craps game."
Varg of Mayhem Burzum burned a couple churches and killed a bandmate.
I could list other examples, but would like to hear from other people and other music genres.
I dunno, him and Coolio had some beef in the 90s. When Weird Al parodied Coolio's Gangsters Paradise with his Amish Paradise Weird Al didn't do so with the consent of Coolio. Gangsters paradise was a deeply personal song to Coolio so he was understandably upset. As a direct parody it was protected under fair use but Weird Al didn't feel right about it. So he reached out to Coolio, apologized and ever since then Weird Al has gotten the artist approval to parody their work despite the fact he doesn't need to. Coolio did eventually come around and agree it was a pretty funny parody. Plot twist, (not really) that's how humble Weird Al is, he didn't do anything legally wrong and yet he still recognized he could do better.
That was all from a miscommunication- Al had his people reach out to Coolio's people, and somehow wires got crossed. Al created it with the belief that he had Coolio's blessing. Al has always asked permission, and a number of artists/songs have not been done because they would not grant permission. Examples include Paul McCartney (Live and Let Die/Chicken Pot Pie, because of his strict vegetarianism), Michael Jackson (Black or White, because he felt the message was too important), and everything by Prince.
While it's never been tested in court, most of these parodies probably count as derivative works (i.e. permission is required) rather than protected fair use. A notable exception might be Smells Like Nirvana, since it was used to mock the original creator.
I wanted to inject a bit of wholesome into a question that will be littered with pedos, murderers and white supremacists. In the modern world it's way too easy to focus on the negative and forget that some people actually do live up to your expectations.
I didn't just want to troll with an off-topic response but make sure there was a glimmer of hope.
On August 8, 2004, a tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumped an estimated 800 pounds (360 kg) of human waste from the bus's blackwater tank through the Kinzie Street Bridge in Chicago onto a passenger sightseeing boat sailing in the Chicago River below.
Came in here to mention how much a of a dick Maynard was to a seamstress friend of mine. It was an hour or so before showtime and she had the audacity to replace the button on his vintage leather Cavaricci pants with one that wasn't an actual Cavaricci button. He treated her like a foolish peasant that should have been more prepared to deal with an elite. Seems kinda light considering the other posts, but anytime I can call him out for being a dick, I'mma do it.
Tool has been my favorite band for ~25 years now. I've been a fan through nearly their entire history and if there's one thing that's been a consistent element of the band, it's that MJK is a fucking prick. No two ways about it. He's a little shit with a HUGE ego and he's just not a pleasant human. Creative as hell and damn good at what he does but a massive massive dick head. He's not the reason I like Tool though and I wouldn't even call myself an MJK fan, I dislike him in a lot of ways but when it comes to him, Danny, Adam and Justin laying down some badass fuckin jams, no one does it for me like Tool. Danny and Adam especially. They are the core of Tool for me and I think MJK gets waaaaay too much credit for the band.
I used to love Avenged Sevenfold back in like 2005/2006. They used to fly confederate flags at their concerts, and even had custom guitars with the confederate flag panted on them. Back then I didn't understand the significance of that, but that's really fucked.
At least they have apologized for it and said they regret doing it. I believe people are capable of learning from their mistakes, but tbh, I haven't kept up with them so I'm not sure if they have truly become better people than they were back then.
I never knew that about them. I casually enjoyed a few songs here and there when I heard them and thought they were good but not really my genre of choice. I really respect that they apologized and changed behavior. As somebody in my mid 30s and was therefore mid teens 20 years ago, I also was unaware of the hurt and hate involved with things I saw and said and did at the time. But you're right, it's important to be capable of learning and growing and changing behavior and apologizing for the damage done. We all make mistakes, and to pretend otherwise and deny ones own mistakes is a sign of immaturity and responsibility.
As someone also in their mid 30s, I think a lot of people really misunderstand how the confederate flag was viewed so casually by many people up until recently. It was always offensive to some, but I genuinely was unaware of that as a teen growing up in the 2000s. It was just an image of being kind of edgy and rebellious but I genuinely didn't think much of it seeing any band using them. Watching Skynyrd or Guns N Roses videos of live concerts? There were "rebel flags" pretty often and I just kind of let it go. It meant nothing to me.
I was in my mid 20s, probably, when it really was explained to me how insensitive that can be. I never associated it with racism or slavery up until that point - and I'm pretty sure that's the same thought that a lot of these bands had.
The absolute best thing to do is exactly as you said: own up to it, change your ways, and grow.
Fucking Tim! I don't like As I Lay Dying but I LOVE Austrian Death Machine (another band of his). Sucks that they'll never make any more music. Arnold Schwarzenegger themed metal is great. NEEAAAAHHHH! GUITAR SOLO!
I grew up on a lot of metal bands, including Iced Earth. Absolutely loved them, even saw them open for Megadeth as a kid.
Then Jon Schaffer went and proudly participated in the Jan 6 attack, so now it's kinda hard to listen to their music anymore.
Also hard to listen to Megadeth these days, too. Partly because they stopped being good after Risk, but also partly because Dave Mustaine turned into a born-again Christian nutjob.
In hindsight, Jon Schaffer might’ve been a total dick all along considering the huge turnover in IE’s lineup over the years. He’s probably horrible to work with.
Also, looking back, his lyrics about hidden societies fucking shit up for humanity leave a sour taste in my mouth given that he fell in with the whole Q bullshit.
Damn shame because I loved me some IE but now it’s hard to listen to.
Yeah, it definitely puts a bad spin on the Something Wicked story they'd been telling. Which is a shame, because it was cool thinking it was just about aliens and magic curses and shit, but now knowing that he probably believes there's more truth to that story than he lets on, it just doesn't feel the same.
Was a big fan of eric Clapton but I learned later in that he’s racist so now his music leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I regret seeing him instead of Chris Cornell. I was sure clapton would go before Cornell :(((
Knowing he's a racist makes it interesting that he made a living off of playing music invented by black people. Also makes it even sweeter that Hendrix destroyed him on stage while jamming with Cream.
Back when I was a teenager I loved Lostprophets. I didn‘t hear about Ian Watkins becoming one of the worst people in Wales until a few years after they disbanded.
Crystal Castles is also pain listening to nowadays with Alice and Ethan.
Ethan Kath abused Alice Glass enough to the point of her just up and quitting the band. She was only able to come forward when she found four other women who were abused by Kath .
Wouldn't say I was a big fan of them at the time, but LostProphets.
Ian Watkins is currently serving a 30 year sentence in prison for multiple child sexual offences - incredibly vile shit.
Apparently people had suspected he was a nonce long before he was arrested.
Many former fans went so far as to burn merch, trash CD's and pretty much disavow the band once the news came out. His former band mates dissolved the band and started No Devotion in its place.
deadmau5 used to be a massive internet edgelord for very much over a decade (think the targeted harassment of Krewella was particularly awful, even if their producer shared his lawyer) until he had some heated moments that forced him to realise he wasn't all there and change his ways. He's still very truthful about the world of EDM but he's not the edgelord he once was, and he's much better for it.
Iced Earth guitarist was one of the first ones in the door on January 6th. The band pretty much said they disagree with his actions,but not his intent.
Guitarist from Manowar in trouble for being a pedo.
Years ago, Zazz Blammymatazz had a song about getting head from a 14 year old.
Iced Earth guitarist was one of the first ones in the door on January 6th. The band pretty much said they disagree with his actions,but not his intent.
They said nothing about agreeing with his intent. They condemned his actions and left it at that.
It's also hard to say "the band" as Schaeffer is iced earth. He has been the only constant member and to my understanding owns the rights to their iconography and etc.
Dude straight up ended his career. His band members left, label dropped him and his colabs said they wouldn't work with him anymore.
Turns out he was a lieutenant in the oath keepers and the FBI grabbed him. Last I heard he made a plea deal and got put into the witness protection program.
He is the band and it can't exist without him. Even if he could continue, he'd have to rebuild it from the ground up.
It's a shame, I really Loved Demons and Wizards, the iced earth / blind guardian colab group.
... Based on some song lyrics I feel I should have seen this coming when looking back though.
I've only ever known Jon Schaffer to be an arsehole.
Years ago I was freelancing for a German heavy metal fanzine. That zine was attached to a record label, and for a few years ran a festival in its own name. The one year, Iced Earth and Nevermore, who were touring together at the time, were slated to be the headliners. Iced Earth were touring the Dark Saga album, and Nevermore had just released the In Memory EP, so must have been around '96.
I remember having a pleasant conversation with then Nevermore guitarist Pat O'Brien, who was happily browsing the label's CD stand - dude was big into Death Metal. I remember Jim Sheppard accidentally burning my hand with a cigarette and apologising for it. But what most stuck with me was Schaffer sending out his tour manager to order us to remove all CDs that weren't of bands playing at the festival. Original quote from the tour manager: "Jon ist schon tierisch sauer" - Jon's really pissed off.
Through the years Schaffer revealed more and more of his personality, culminating in him joining the Capitol invasion. I can't even get myself to listen to my favourite Iced Earth album ("Something Wicked") any more.
I've dabbled in listening to EDM more frequently, and when I heard Chasing Heaven by him, I ran up to my roommates who proceeded to open that can of worms... never heard of the guy before that, and won't listen to him again. Sick fuck on so many levels. The CP is a new one from what I knew then.
I have always loved Rammstein and I still do, however this summer their vocalist was accused of sexual abuse of fans or something but the lawyers found no offense so nothing happened, though apparently they did have a manager for finding hot fans for the band's aftershow parties which is kinda nasty but not illegal
All musicians have done the same thing from the beginning of time. Some are sucks like Jagger going for under she girls where others just want to pay with got chicks that usually want to party to.
Ian Watkins, the lead singer, is now in prison for sexual abuse of children. We're not talking the typical groomer here, he actually raped kids as young as toddlers. He's a monster. A lot of their songs are absolute bangers, but knowing about him makes it hard to listen to them.
The rest of the band (to my knowledge) are decent, though. They broke up the band upon learning the truth about Watkins, and has since formed a new band.
Justin Sane, frontman of punk rock's Anti-Flag, was recently accused of "predatory behavior, sexual assault, and statutory rape."
Allegedly he'd eyefuck girls from the stage during shows in a very "That's right, I'm a rockstar, lookin' at you" kind of way, and somehow get them invited backstage later.
His bandmates disbanded after the news broke. Bandmates say they weren't aware, that they stand with the victims, and they condemn his actions.
I saw Anti-Flag at a small venue years back and it makes me wonder if it happened to fellow concertgoers that night.
I haven't listened to a ton of Anti-Flag in recent years, but they were a big part of me getting into punk decades ago and this one sucked to find out.
This one gets to me. Not because I liked them that much, but because Justin has always been a dick and I could just write it off as "yeah they were a bunch of dicks but they put on a good show". An Anti-Flag show in the 2000s, here at least, was one of the few times a punk show wasn't in a basement somewhere, so it was absolutely THE place to be if you were in the scene. They also frequently had great bands with them so it always made for a great time.
But after the accusations came out it left a real bad taste realizing that he's probably much more than "just a dick".
Andrew Wood, lead singer of Mother Love Bone, recorded a song ostensibly about how he'll always love heroin more than his long time girlfriend/fiancé then ten days later he overdosed and died.
Karl Logan of Manowar. Currently doing 5 and a half for possessing CSAM. Hell of a guitarist, but a permanent stain on Manowar's image. At least Eric Adams is alright.
Dangit. I was mentally prepared for Mike Patton coming out as an asshole in this story, tarnishing my image of him from afar. Now he’s just that much more awesome.
I used to love Brand New back in high school and college. When The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me came out, it pretty much captured my life for months. Turns out that the album's lyrics were a little more.. autobiographical than most people thought, and Jesse Lacy is a shitty person.
Also
Varg killed Euronymous because Euro was talking about making a snuff film of Varg because he (E) was jealous of how much success Varg was having with his own project and activities.
Keep in mind that Euronymous's response to his band's vocalists' suicide was to take a picture of his dead body and collect pieces of his skull to hand out to his friends as necklaces. Out of all the shitty things Varg Virkernes has done in his life, killing Euronymous just about makes up for it.
I agree. Also just noticed that in your post you call him "Varg of Mayhem" which is an interesting take considering the fact that he played bass on one song
That whole scene of Norwegian Black Metal was a wild circus.
Crazy when I stop and think about how damn young they all were, too. Dead was dead by 22, Euronymous was dead by 25, Faust was I think 19 when he committed a random murder because "...I guess he wanted to know what it's like to kill a person" (according to a band mate).
Man, if I were in a scene where anybody was doing anything close to shit like that I would be like "I'm gonna just do my own thing in my bedroom, you guys can have fun with all of this, goodbye"
Eh the early black metal scene was mostly all in good fun until the church burnings started, after that it just became a big dick measuring contest between a few of the bigger figures in the movement to see who could be the most edgy. IMO Euronymous was a cancer on the whole movement and is responsible for why things got as fucked up as they did
I like to imagine Varg trembling in his military boots everytime he goes to the city and sees a black person. You just know he's an absolute wus from how he acts, just like how incels tremble when they see a woman.
I feel for you. My first concert was a Morrissey one. After finding out about his support for For Britain, I’m not supporting him anymore. Yet he still has his defenders…
it was hilarious how he got shit on for waving the union jack and then 2 years later its everywhere and every big brit band has one, like oasis and blur
Such horse shit Vince didn't have to do time for that. He has gotten a couple DUI's since too. On his Wikipedia page seems he likes to assault women. Total piece of shit.
I like the Beatles, and there's the obvious clique joke of "John beats his wives, ya know?"
I like a grand total of one Megadeath song, "Hanger 18". That bad is very troublesome. I feel bad for enjoying it, but I don't pay for it, so I guess that's better? But it's nostalgic for me, and I like the words "Military intelligence, two words combined that can't make sense."
I'd have to go through each bands' wikipedia page, but I think some of the worst things are;
Disagreed on who wrote what, leading to members leaving or the band breaking up
Disagreed on who owns the name, leading to court battles and the band splitting in two
Important members leaving, and while the band is still fun to listen to both new and old songs, its not the same
And of course the dreaded sin of "Why does no one know who I am talking about, they need more fans." but that's not really a thing of their own.
You better run for your life if you can, little girl
You better hide your head in the sand, little girl
If I catch you with another man, that's the end, little girl
Fun pop lyrics or psychopathic threat of violence?
I mean, one is lyrics for a fictional killer, the other is real life spouse abuse. I don't know about you, but real life events are worse than written words.
John physically abusing his family is way worse than lyrics of an intentionally creepy song.
You remember South Park's Trapped in the Closet episode? I was shocked to discover that it's a real thing. R Kelly made a musical drama about being trapped in the closet and it's absolutely absurd.
lol, watched that series of videos unfold in real time on The Soup, and am sheepishly realizing there's probably a whole generation of people now that were too young/ not alive yet when that train wreck went down.
What drives me crazy about this the most is that it was technically public knowledge as far back as the mid-90s, but it was mostly ignored. That man was left out for way too long before anything was taken seriously.
Marilyn Manson: his videos from 2009- pretty much lay it out in the open, but he's the fucking worst physical and emotional abuser of women. Just a shit human being.
I have stopped purchasing these artists merch and they have all been removed from my Spotify. Their records now live in my basement. When I must listen, I listen to my personal rips, alone.
Marilyn Manson was a tough one to come to terms with. The shit he was accused of seemed so cartoonishly evil that it felt like a bit but, no, he really was just an sad man with an edgy teens mentality this whole time. Fortunately Trent Reznor seems like a kind of good guy
Me too, they're one of my favorite power metal acts. I feel like it's okay to pirate them though. Dude tried to steal my voice, so I'm gonna make unauthorized copies of his.
I was a big fan of G.G. Allin, so it's hard to pin point just a single moment, but we'll let google and your imaginations take you there. It's pretty trippy.
When I was super young and listening to ace of bass i learned one of the members was also a white supremacist.
Lead singer of L7 whipped her used tampon at an asshole like a fucking champ.
I’ve been a NOFX fan for about 25 years; still am.
Their whole Vegas shooting country music joke was really hard to wake up to & read as a fan. Also the ripple effect that had on the other bands playing with them; the shows getting canceled; it was all a huge shitshow.
Having said that, I’m sure NOFX themselves have done more fucked up things than that joke, but the timing and lack of sensitivity was really a gut punch (not just to the fans, but the people of Vegas and the victim’s families).
Have also been a fan since '92! Fat Mike, and I know it wasn't just him, but he kinda went off the rails there for a bit. For a while.. it got me down..I guess it was a ploy to stay a little relevant, or to get out of a business deal.
It’s been hard for me to enjoy or appreciate them since them, even though I do like them as people and their music. It was just so stupid and tone deaf. Anti rock and roll. It would be kind of like if people now figured out a way to get around Ticketmaster and get into concerts for free and you go out and say knock it off, give your money to Ticketmaster, stop stealing from artists.
Aero Chord made some cool stuff, and then found out he sexually assaulted Mylk in 2014 when she was just trying to help him out... It fucked her up pretty bad, guy's a complete asshole.
Saw them with Flogging Molly. Complete surprise to me too, because I didn't see or notice them on the bill until that night. Show was killer. Then like a month later I see their description on the new album says "former band". Fucking heartbreaking and now I'm concerned about that sweet girl from Pink Shift.
I really liked this band called Issues but the band simply disbanded after some allegations of the lead singer grooming teenagers when him he was 18 surfaced. He didn't denied it and gave some very stupid apologies claiming that it was his fault for being too accessible to fans. Like, I get that he was 18 at the time but that is a very shitty excuse. I really miss them making new music, they were amazing.
They way I understand it is the power dynamic was the issue because he was the frontman of a popular band and taking advantage of young underage fans. There were also allegations of abuse, although I’m not sure what kind and if it was true.
Man I just discovered Issues a couple of weeks ago and loved their djent and r&b fusion style especially in Beautiful Oblivion. Then I looked them up and saw the lead singer’s issues (pun intended). It sucks because it’s his singing style that puts the r&b into their music, and they probably won’t sound the same. Glad the band kicked him out without a fuss though, so they can move on and hopefully make more of that style of music.
If I had a nickel for every time one of my favorite noise artists was accused of sexual assault by another artist I follow, I'd have two nickels. Which isnt a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice (Michael Gira from Swans was accused by Larkin Grimm and Alexis Marshall from Daughters was accused by Kristin Hayter).
My favorite musicians, writers, sports stars, and TV crew are pretty cool for the most part, though there's a childhood program of mine where all the original actors just hate working with one another, to the point where when Jason David Frank ended his life a few months ago, only one actress said a single word of sympathy. Arguably worse than being a jerk to the fans, from a certain perspective. That and the company/studio has some very EA-esque habits.
Good news is that of the original rangers, the only one who didn’t say something nice and was still living was David Yost. Walter Jones, Austin St. John, and Amy Jo Johnson all said something nice about him.
Desperately trying to find that meme of Bernie Sanders where he says that he'll make gay marriage mandatory if he becomes president. "And if you're not gay, too bad. I'm your husband now and we're in LLLLOOOOOVVVEEEEE"
I have never heard of that guy before three minutes ago, but your comment intrigued me and I couldn't figure out why gay marriage legalization would make someone "flee" the country. So I looked at wikipedia. Supposedly the reason he left seems to be more related to legal issues involving his not paying child support, and it was to Luxembourg not Morocco.
It's a pretty short article and maybe there's an escape to Morocco as well that just didn't make it into the article.
I posted my comment based on what I read few years ago, 2015 iirc. But its a nice thing thing to know that I (and the person who gave the info) was wrong.
Red House Painters, specifically Mark Kozelek. I think the things he was accused of were from his Sun Kil Moon days, but it still sucks. Those first couple of albums I have listened to dozens of times.
Crystal Castles and Sweet Trip also have intraband sexual assault allegations, which really sucks because then I'm a fan of both the victim and the predator.
Mellowed out over time. They all do it and it makes me sad.
Oh hey I know what this hardcore three piece needs, a symphony backed album. A rock ballad. A mandolin solo. Interpretive drums. Take something pure and water it down until it is no longer recognizable.
Give me loud riffs, simple drums, and boss lyrics pls.
They all eventually release an unplugged album which sounds like all the old upbeat tempo tracks as 45 played at 33⅓.
I want to cry a lot. Mainly because I can't buy the aforementioned 33⅓ and play it at 78 because I don't have a record player anymore.
I'm Gen X and I still hate Country and fucking Western. If anyone sees me looking admiringly at corduroy or jackets with leather patches, have a lethal implement to hand. This note hereby indemnifies ..
I don't know about what they've done, but some of the lyrics in songs by The Offspring are pretty questionable.
"I wish I could fix you... and make you how I want you"
or there's an entire song called "she's got issues" - which is a fucking jam - where the singer is complaining about how his abused girlfriend thinks SHE'S the victim when HE'S the one who has to put up with her.
Yeah, it has been weird to see some songs that were completely unremarked on by media at release (rightly or not) become solid examples of really problematic cultural artifacts.
"Island Girl" by Elton John is one that never fails to stun me. I haven't listened to radio in years but I remember the song getting played occasionally even decades after release.
I see your teeth flash, Jamaican honey so sweet
Down where Lexington cross 47th Street
Oh she's a big girl, she's standing six-foot three
Turning tricks for the dudes in the big city
That's just the opening verse, it does not get better. This song was number 1 in the US in 1975.
I love The Offspring. I bought tickets to see them with Sum41 which would have been the highlight of the decade for me but fucking covid happened and it never got rescheduled. I'm still bitter.
I don’t know if anyone put Alice Cooper on here…Voyager doesn’t seem to have a feature to search within threads…
A regular guy who puts on a bunch of makeup, goes on stage and says “it’s ok to be weird…just be yourself” and then to turn your back on trans kids like he’s just another transphobic boomer… Oof. I can never respect him again.
Always loved seeing him chime in on different bio shows like “behind the music” or whatever as a kind of self proclaimed nerd turned bizarre horror/rock star. Always had this cool “fuck you” credibility. Fuck him tho.
Roger Waters. I think he means well and wants people to be happy and that's why he's a leftist, but wow that guy can pick the wrong side in a conflict. He is a terrible advocate for the causes he supports.
Electric Callboy used to be called Eskimo Callboy until somewhat recently. Eskimo is now considered a slur for the Inuit and Yupit peoples. I'm fairly sure thay EC meant no offense by the term and rather used it out of ignorance (as evidenced by them setting in motion the presumably rather extensive process of changing their entire branding, including pulling old songs and changing all their old album covers), but given their early albums were all about edgy funny provocation, it's not a great look.
It's a bit more complicated. Only some specific tribes consider this a slur. Other tribes do not. There's nothing offensive in the term itself (it's not pejorative) so it's more about using one term for different tribes that don't consider themselves to be members of the same group.