These songs missed the mark in a major way. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 musicians whose reputations were seriously derailed by one song.
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00:00I should have kissed you longer, I should have held you stronger.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 musicians whose
00:11reputations were seriously derailed by one song.
00:15It's never easy, we come back and we try!
00:20Number 10.
00:21Liz Phair – Why Can't I On Liz Phair's self-titled 2003 album, the
00:27edgy singer-songwriter took a more commercial approach.
00:37It was predictably blasted by critics, and the worst offender was the lead single.
00:43Why Can't I faced immense backlash for its poppy subject matter and sound, which was
00:48crafted by production team The Matrix, who previously worked with Avril Lavigne.
00:56Inspiring comparisons to Michelle Branch and Lavigne herself, Why Can't I was featured
01:02in several rom-coms and totally went against what was expected of Phair.
01:12Her following albums, 2005's Somebody's Miracle and 2010's Funstyle, underperformed.
01:20And while Phair won some fans with 2021's Soberish, she's still been exiled from critical
01:26darling status.
01:35Number 9.
01:36Macklemore – White Privilege 2 People were happy to let Macklemore exist as
01:47the corny but well-meaning white rapper with fun songs like Thrift Shop.
01:52Winning the award for Best Rap Album over Kendrick Lamar was a bridge too far.
01:57The controversial win ignited a discussion about white artists in hip-hop spaces and
02:02how they're often rewarded over black artists.
02:10Macklemore responded to the backlash with his track White Privilege 2, where he acknowledged
02:15the advantages he reaps due to his skin colour.
02:23While he seemed to say the right things, some felt he shouldn't have said anything and
02:28instead continued to listen and learn.
02:37Number 8.
02:38B.o.B – Flatline Stars have succeeded in spite of their fringe
02:47views before, but unlike some of them, B.o.B doesn't have the catalogue to back up his
02:53controversial side.
02:55In 2015, the Airplane's rapper expressed flat-earth beliefs, holocaust denial and support
03:01for 9-11, Illuminati and reptilian conspiracy theories.
03:09He even got into a Twitter fight with Neil deGrasse Tyson, aiming his song Flatline at
03:14the physicist.
03:15The song killed any chance at B.o.B staging a mainstream comeback, being dragged by critics
03:20and receiving a scolding from the president of the Anti-Defamation League.
03:30With all said and done, it's safe to say he could really use a hit right now.
03:39Number 7.
03:40Jewel – Intuition With her 2003 song Intuition and its parent
03:45album 0304, Jewel attempted a Britney-esque dance style that alienated nearly everyone.
03:57Not only did it scare off the acoustic audience she built up in the 90s, but the lyrics seemed
04:02to be criticising her new sound while still partaking in it.
04:11Jewel also didn't seem too bothered about disguising her intentions.
04:15One of the lyrics is, considering that intuition was the centrepiece of an ad campaign by Schick
04:23Razors, that lyric struck a sour note.
04:27Although she returned to her previous sound on her next album, 2006's Goodbye Alice
04:32in Wonderland, not everyone was on board and she was ultimately dropped from her label,
04:38Atlantic Records.
04:44Number 6.
04:45Redfoo – Literally I Can't Party rocking isn't the only thing he has
04:51to be sorry for.
04:52Redfoo rose to fame as one half of the early 2010s duo LMFAO.
04:58Although they fit in with the popular party music of the time, they struggled to stay
05:02relevant as music tastes changed.
05:05Redfoo's guest feature on the 2014 Playin' Skills song, Literally I Can't, came at
05:11a moment in his career where every song counted and it was the wrong one to bet on.
05:22Not only was the maximalist EDM production dated on arrival, but his verse tells a woman
05:27to shut up and twerk instead of speaking her mind.
05:35Insulting half of your audience might not be the best idea when you're on your 14th
05:40minute of fame.
05:44Number 5.
05:46Madonna – American Life Even the Queen of Pop has an occasional court
05:55jester era.
05:57While she'd broached controversial subjects before, Madonna became more overtly political
06:02than ever on 2003's American Life.
06:10On the song, Madonna decried the shallowness of fame, but the messaging was all over the
06:16place.
06:17It lacked focus and seemed hypocritical given her continued celebrity status, and her attempt
06:22at rapping is one of the more awkward moments in her discography.
06:31American Life became Madonna's lowest charting lead single since her early career, peaking
06:36at number 37 on the Hot 100.
06:45She might have recovered for a few more albums starting with 2005's Confessions on a Dance
06:50Floor, but American Life was the first true crack in the Madonna machine and ended her
06:56imperial phase.
07:03Number 4.
07:04Robin Thicke – Get Her Back You know his lines are blurred, but that's
07:09probably the last you've heard.
07:11After Robin Thicke's 2013 hit Blurred Lines, he released the song Get Her Back and its
07:17album Paula.
07:23Both are Thicke's attempt at reconciling with his then-separated wife, actress Paula Patton.
07:29In Get Her Back, Thicke admits to his regrets in their relationship and includes alleged
07:34texts between the former couple.
07:41One exchange goes, I wrote a whole album about you, with the reply, I don't care.
07:46Unfortunately for Thicke, neither did anyone else.
07:56The song peaked at number 82 on the Hot 100, a far cry from Blurred Lines' success.
08:02Thicke has since become a panelist on The Masked Singer, but the door is closed on his
08:06days as a hit maker.
08:13Number 3.
08:14Billy Squier – Rock Me Tonight Nothing about this song seems like a reputation
08:19killer on its own, but the music video is what pushes it into train wreck territory.
08:33In an era when many rock stars maintained a so-called macho image that carried on through
08:38their songs, live performances and music videos, Billy Squier released a video that could be
08:43described as the exact opposite of that image.
08:51With cheesy choreography from future High School Musical director Kenny Ortega, the
08:55video mostly featured Squier dancing and writhing around a room by himself, while artists like
09:01David Bowie and Prince also stepped outside of the 1980s rigid gender roles, Squier's
09:07vibe change didn't go down well with many young rock fans and significantly affected
09:13sales of Squier's subsequent music.
09:21Squier says the whole thing is an MBA course in how a video can go totally wrong.
09:35Number 2.
09:36Metallica – I Disappear Metallica ending its reign would be a true
09:41Mission Impossible, but for a while there, they were pretty close.
09:51The group's song, I Disappear, was included in the second installment of the spy movie
09:56franchise and became the nucleus of a Napster drama.
10:00Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich waged war against the file-sharing site when I Disappear
10:06leaked onto it, tanking the group's reputation among music heads.
10:15After filing a lawsuit against Napster, which would eventually file for bankruptcy, Ulrich
10:21was booed on stage at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.
10:25To make matters worse, Metallica's next album, 2003's St. Anger, was considered
10:31their weakest to date.
10:33They'd make a recovery, but for a time, the group seemed hardwired to self-destruct.
10:37Number 1.
10:59Milli Vanilli – Girl You Know It's True This song would make, and break, its artists.
11:07German pop duo Milli Vanilli released Girl You Know It's True in 1988, and followed
11:16it up with a trio of number ones.
11:18However, a 1989 MTV performance of their debut hit was the beginning of the end.
11:29The track skipped, exposing the duo's lip-syncing, and a year later, it would be revealed that
11:35they hadn't sung any of their songs at all.
11:39Milli Vanilli's 1990 Best New Artist Grammy was revoked, and they even faced a class-action
11:44lawsuit, while they recorded a follow-up later, and never saw the light of day due to member
11:52Rob Pilatus' death.
11:54Not only did the controversy kill Milli Vanilli's careers, but it revealed they were built on
12:00lies.
12:04Do you think any of these songs deserve justice?
12:07Let us know in the comments!