Rock Bands With The Worst Drama

If you're in a metal band where everyone's getting along, you might be doing it wrong. And nobody knows drama more than Metallica, and, by extension, fellow "big four" '80s thrash metal outfit Megadeth. True fans are familiar with the story. Current Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine was originally the lead guitar player in Metallica. It didn't last long. All members of Metallica drank heavily, earning the nickname "Alcoholica." But according to Loudwire, Mustaine was what he himself described as "a violent drunk." He said, "I lost all inhibitions when I was drinking, and that didn't go over too well in the end."

On April 11, 1983, fed up with Mustaine, frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich gave Mustaine a bus ticket and told him he was out of the band. Kirk Hammett, who's still with the group, had already been hired to replace him.

Fueled by humiliation and rage and itching for vengeance, Mustaine would ultimately form thrash metal band Megadeth, with the goal of rivalling Metallica. It would never match Metallica's success, but at 50 million records sold (per Warner Music Group), it's hard to argue Mustaine didn't mount an impressive comeback.

Still, tensions remained. Mustaine was infamously bitter about his firing for decades, even complaining about it to Ulrich in a decidedly un-metal therapy session, as seen on Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster" documentary.

Great artists tend to clash a lot. That's definitely the case with Pink Floyd's two leading men: singer/guitarist David Gilmour and bassist/singer Roger Waters. As Far Out Magazine details, Gilmour joined the group in 1968 and saw his influence grow until he and Waters were in open war for creative control. By 1985, the situation had become professionally untenable, and Waters left the band.

But the story wasn't over. Waters and Gilmour sparred in courtrooms, according to Far Out, due to Waters insisting the band break up in his absence. Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason fought back, alleging they were still trying to make new music. In a 2013 interview with the BBC, Waters admitted fault, saying, "I was wrong."

But the tension has persisted through the years and various collaborations. "David thinks he owns it," Waters said on Twitter, according to the same article, referring to the band's website. "I think he thinks that because I left the band in 1985, that he owns Pink Floyd, that he is Pink Floyd and I'm irrelevant and I should just keep my mouth shut." He goes on to lament that Gilmour's wife was permitted to use the site to sell her books, but he can't use it to promote music.

For his part, Mason thinks it's all a bit immature. "I think it's really disappointing that these rather elderly gentlemen are still at loggerheads," he told Rolling Stone in 2018.

Guitar-smashing is a beloved tradition of rock stars, but late '50s sibling crooners The Everly Brothers probably don't make the list of groups you'd suspect of doing it.

But this is exactly how Don and Phil Everly parted ways in 1973. According to Music Times, the two were performers from childhood and had their earliest hits in the late 1950s, often written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. But by the late '60s, the "Bye Bye Love" and "All I Have To Do Is Dream" singers were circling the drain, in more ways than one. The article claims their fame was in a steep decline, with a live compilation, "The Everly Brothers Show," failing to produce the commercial success of their past. Moreover, Groovy History says that Don's substance abuse issues were putting a serious strain on the group, ultimately leading to a psychiatric break and a brief hospitalization.

The Brothers announced that their upcoming show at Knott's Berry Farm, which was scheduled for July 14, 1973, would be their last. Tensions escalated in the days leading up to the performance, leading the band's supporting members and crew to suspect something big would happen onstage. They weren't wrong. Don, drunk, slurred his words and fumbled the show. When the audience turned against the act, Phil smashed his guitar onstage and stormed off. Don then told the crowd, "The Everly Brothers died 10 years ago."

It would be another 10 years before they'd share the stage again. 

It's widely known that pain can lead to great art. The problem is, if the person causing you pain is in your band and you have a hit record, you have to tour together. And sing songs written about each other, together. For years.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were a package deal since high school, according to MTV. The musician couple joined the ranks of Fleetwood Mac in 1975 and boosted the group to massive success with one of the decade's best-selling records: 1977's "Rumours." But the album was actually a sonic chronicle of unraveling romantic involvement. As Pitchfork notes, Nicks and Buckingham had just broken up, Christine and John McVie were separating, and Mick Fleetwood was getting a divorce. Many of the songs were autobiographical in nature, written about tumultuous relationships — mostly Nicks and Buckingham.

They toured throughout the '80s, but by the early '90s, they couldn't do it any longer. "We're really not friends," Nicks said of Buckingham in 1994 to Rolling Stone. "We're really not anything. We did not break up friends, and we have never been friends since."

Reunions did happen, but, proving that time can't heal all wounds, Buckingham was fired from the group in 2018 (via Billboard). Unsurprisingly, his and Nicks' accounts of what happened differ substantially.

Spearheaded by the hit single "Jump," Loudersound says Van Halen's "1984" propelled the group to new heights of commercial success. But trouble was brewing backstage.

The following year, original frontman David Lee Roth was out of the band due to serious infighting and creative differences. Roth remarked, "The band had disintegrated into a spiteful bunch of bleary-eyed, argumentative, procrastinating individuals." Meanwhile, according to Ultimate Classic Rock, Van Halen mocked Roth's departure, saying he "left to be a movie star."

Diamond Dave was replaced with singer Sammy Hagar, who saw great success with the band in the late '80s. But the good times were short lived. By June 1996, he was out of the band, with Hagar citing creative differences and a need to spend more time with his family (via Ultimate Classic Rock).

Hagar rejoined for a 2004 reunion tour, but it was marred by sloppy performances and substance abuse, per Ultimate Classic Rock. Neither Hagar nor longtime bassist Michael Anthony ever played with Van Halen again. But, according to Billboard, they were the only two who bothered to attend the band's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony: Eddie Van Halen was in rehab, and Roth couldn't come to an agreement about what to sing (via NME). 

Between "Champagne Supernova," "Thank You For The Good Times," and of course, "Wonderwall," Britpop duo Oasis gave us some of the best alternative rock songs of the mid-'90s. But they're at least as famous for their legendary infighting as they are for their music.

Far Out Magazine traces the sibling rivalry all the way back to a rough, often violent upbringing at the hands of an abusive father, leading both brothers to deal with the trauma in unhealthy ways. Liam Gallagher was a rambunctious loudmouth, and Noel Gallagher, his older brother, tended to turn his anger inward. Neither knew how to put up with the other, making for a tumultuous working relationship.

Rolling Stone has all the details: In 1994, a botched set resulted in Liam smashing a tambourine on Noel's head and storming off. In 1996, at the height of the band's fame, Liam skipped a show so he could heckle his performing brother from a balcony. In 2000, during a particularly heinous backstage blowout, Liam allegedly accused Noel's daughter of being born out of wedlock, prompting his older brother to quit the band (temporarily). In a 2005 interview with Spin Magazine, Noel bragged about gaslighting and manipulating his brother to get what he wanted. In 2009, Noel quit the band permanently, and by 2011, both brothers were trading shots via Twitter that continued for years.