Once a bandmate, always a bandmate. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the times musicians referenced their previous (or soon-to-be ex) bandmates through song.
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00:00Welcome to MissMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the times musicians referenced
00:08their previous, or soon-to-be ex, bandmates through a song.
00:1210. No One But You – Only the Good Die Young – Queen
00:23Rather than looking to the future, this band's final single paid tribute to their former
00:33frontman.
00:34Queen's No One But You – Only the Good Die Young is nothing like Billy Joel's upbeat
00:39yet scandalous song with a similar title.
00:42Instead, it's an epic elegy for Freddie Mercury, released six years after his death
00:52at 45 from AIDS complications.
00:55The lyrics compare Mercury to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun in Greek mythology.
01:00On the second verse, Roger Taylor makes reference to paying every due, seemingly a callback
01:06to Mercury's opening line, We Are The Champions.
01:13With the remainder of Queen praising his creative passion and lively spirit, No One But You
01:18isn't just written in memory of a bandmate, but a true friend.
01:259. You Don't Move Me – Keith Richards Instead of waiting to see how his solo material
01:40fared first, this Rolling Stone threw a boulder of shade on his first album.
01:45Artist Keith Richards embarked on his 1988 debut, Talk Is Cheap, motivated by his feud
01:51with Stones frontman Mick Jagger, after decades of collaboration.
01:55On the track You Don't Move Me, Richards takes several shots at Jagger, even calling him
01:59out for his lack of friends.
02:01"'You drove them all around the bend,' he sings."
02:10Richards also criticizes Jagger's commercial motives when it comes to music, calling him
02:15greedy and seedy.
02:24Thankfully for the guitarist, his solo album was a success, and he'd make up, break up
02:28and make up again with Jagger several times throughout the years.
02:358. Goodbye – Spice Girls
02:45They began their dominance by singing about never-ending friendship, but Five would eventually
02:49become Four.
02:50When Jerry Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, left the Spice Girls in 1998, the remaining members
02:55bid her adieu on Goodbye.
03:01Unlike some other songs written about living ex-bandmates, it's made up of genuine well-wishes
03:06for the future.
03:07The bittersweet pop ballad contains obvious nods to Halliwell, such as the lyrics, "'So
03:12glad we made it, time will never change it," and "'Never dreamt you'd go your sweet way.'"
03:21It's just vague enough that it could relate to a listener's own life.
03:24While Halliwell would later reunite with her sisters in Spice, Goodbye was the perfect
03:29send-off for the end of an era.
03:367. Never Forget – Lena Katina
03:46Of all the things she said, these lyrics are among the realest.
03:50On T.A.T.U. member Lena Katina's debut solo single, Never Forget, she addressed her complicated
03:55feelings about former duo partner Julia Volkova.
04:04The pair played up something of a fabricated queer relationship as T.A.T.U. in the 2000s,
04:09but feuded in their later years.
04:11Never Forget came on the heels of Volkova criticising Katina's solo career, and served
04:15as a mature farewell to her.
04:23Rather than sparring back, Katina took the high road by acknowledging the good memories
04:27while agreeing to part ways.
04:29Unfortunately, the pair have had a few reunions over the years, most notably at the 2014 Winter
04:34Olympics and performing as recently as 2023.
04:406. Back in Black – ACDC
04:51After lead singer Bon Scott's untimely death at 33 in 1980, ACDC wanted to honour him with
04:57a resurrection of sorts.
04:59Back in Black is written in part by Scott's replacement, Brian Johnson, and acts as an
05:03ode to the late star.
05:10With the lyrics about having nine lives like a cat, and being let loose from the noose,
05:14it's clear that Scott's legacy lives on in his physical absence, and the group is committed
05:19to celebrating his memory.
05:20Beyond being just a mournful song, Back in Black is a victory lap, praising everything
05:25ACDC had accomplished as a group, plus it's become one of the most recognisable songs
05:36in rock history.
05:405. Survivor – Destiny's Child
05:44They've got talent, the voice, the X Factor, and they're certainly American idols.
05:55But once upon a time, the reality competition that best summed up Destiny's Child was Survivor.
06:01When a radio station jokingly compared their musical chairs lineup to the game of outwitting,
06:06outplaying and outlasting, Survivor was born.
06:15The song isn't just an inspiring ode to perseverance, but a message of former members LaToya Luckett
06:20and LaTavia Roberson, who left on bad terms with Beyoncé's father and then-manager Matthew
06:26Knowles.
06:27With lyrics about the group's sales without them and not stooping to their level, it's
06:31seemingly directed, at least to a degree, at the departures.
06:40In 2013, original member Kelly Rowland would release the solo, Dirty Laundry, in part about
06:46standing in Beyoncé's shadow.
06:514. Someday We'll Be Together – Diana Ross & The Supremes
07:04Diana Ross was technically still a Supreme when she sang Someday We'll Be Together,
07:08but it simultaneously acted as her swan song from the group and warm-up for going solo.
07:14The remaining members, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, don't sing on the studio track,
07:18and while the lyrics don't mention them by name, Ross' departure from the Supremes is
07:22clearly a major theme.
07:30The song begins with her longing for a lost love she's said goodbye to, promising to reunite
07:35someday in the future.
07:37While there's definitely a romantic element at play, the rest could easily be a fond farewell
07:42to her time with the group.
07:44Later, they would indeed fulfill the prophecy, performing the song together 14 years later
07:48for the Motown 25 special.
07:543. Shine A Light – The Rolling Stones
08:10Tragedy struck the Rolling Stones at the end of the 1960s, when founding member Brian
08:14Jones sadly passed away.
08:16The surviving Stones dedicated the 1971 song Shine A Light to him, which Mick Jagger had
08:22first begun writing in 1968.
08:30Although the third verse references Jones' alcohol use, the song as a whole is a glowing
08:34tribute to his memory.
08:36The first two verses refer to Jones as my sweet honey love, and the chorus asks the
08:41good lord to shine a light on him, warm like the evening sun.
08:46Assisted by an organ and a gospel sound, the Stones have never sounded so heavenly.
08:562. Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd
09:07Every member of Pink Floyd is a rock legend, but few have been mythologized quite like
09:12Syd Barrett.
09:14As the original frontman, Barrett was known for his visionary guitar work before exiting
09:18the group in 1968 amid declining health.
09:28In the 70s, the remaining members of Pink Floyd processed their feelings about him with
09:32Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
09:35Split in half on the tracklist, the nine-part suite bookended their Wish You Were Here album.
09:40With lyrics painting Barrett as a tortured genius who shines bright despite becoming
09:44unrecognizable, it's equal parts tragic and complimentary.
09:58He later famously visited Pink Floyd in the studio, and was reportedly able to hear some
10:02of the work he inspired.
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10:201. How Do You Sleep – John Lennon
10:32After the Fab Four parted ways, some of them weren't content to let it be.
10:36On John Lennon's Imagine album, the track How Do You Sleep takes aim at his fellow former
10:42Beatle, Paul McCartney.
10:43Previously, McCartney's song with wife Linda, Too Many People, threw shade at Lennon and
10:47Yoko Ono, especially with the line,
10:50"...too many people, preaching practices."
10:55In Lennon's response, he calls out McCartney for surrounding himself with yes-men, and
10:59compares his relevance to the Beatles' song Yesterday.
11:02"...the only thing you've done was yesterday."
11:10Not to mention, the first verse fuels the popular Paul Is Dead conspiracy theory.
11:15"...those weeks was white when they said you was dead."
11:22To add insult to injury, George Harrison joined Lennon on the track with a slide guitar.
11:28At least two of them could come together.
11:29"...how do you sleep?"
11:33Of all the friendships infused between bandmates, which one warms or breaks your heart the most?
11:39Let us know in the comments.
11:48Do you agree with our picks?
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