THIS IS WHY TEARS FOR FEARS BROKE UP IN THE 90S
By FELIX BEHR
History - Science
The 1989 Tears For Fears album "The Seeds of Love" was almost called "Famous Last Words," as it seemed likely the duo of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith would split. During a charity gig at Knebworth the year after they released the album, Tears For Fears announced Curt Smith's decision to leave the band.
Memories Fade, the official website of Tears for Fears, succinctly sums up the issue, noting, "Basically, both men grew too far apart creatively and personally to continue working together in a sane manner." After a decade spent working and fighting with each other, the two longtime friends stopped speaking for nine years, opting to live separate lives instead.
A contributing factor to their separation was Curt Smith holding off from firing their manager, Paul King, despite Orzabal's concerns over the way King's company, Outlaw Agency, was hemorrhaging money. Later on, in 2002, King received a sentence of three-and-a-half years for "defrauding investors in a purported cure for drunkenness made from volcanic rock."
Following their split, Smith moved to New York and was disillusioned from his days of stardom, while Orzabal stayed close to Bath, England, pumping out more Tears For Fears records. Nine years later, while chatting over the phone about some business they had with each other, they both realized that the one on the other end was no longer the person they despised in the early '90s.
Orzabal moved his family within a mile of Smith, and together they recorded "Everyone Loves A Happy Ending," an album released in 2004. The duo has continued to play together, and they released another album in 2022.