These bands endured a lot, but these infamous moments were too much to bear. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the exact moments that bands decided to call it quits.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the exact moments that
00:09bands decided to call it quits.
00:1810.
00:19Jane's Addiction LA alt-rock provocateurs, Jane's Addiction
00:30are no stranger to the whole on-again, off-again thing, having broken up and reunited a handful
00:36of times since their start in 1985.
00:39However, an on-stage altercation in 2024 may have permanently sunk the band.
00:46Their 2024 tour was their first since 2010 to feature their original lineup of singer
00:51Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery, and drummer Stephen Perkins playing
00:58together.
01:05All of these positive developments were quickly dashed at a September 13th show in New York
01:10City, in which Farrell came to blows with Navarro.
01:14The frontman apologized, but the damage had been done.
01:17The band promptly decided to cancel the rest of their tour.
01:249.
01:27Destiny's Child When the person managing your girl group is
01:39also your bandmate's dad, chances are that some resentment is going to boil up sooner
01:45or later.
01:46That was the case with pop R&B icon Destiny's Child, arguably best known for introducing
01:52the world to Beyonce.
01:54The future superstar's father, Matthew, was the manager in question.
01:58This didn't sit well with LaToya Luckett and Latavia Robertson, who felt that he demonstrated
02:04clear favoritism.
02:13Luckett and Robertson were both dismissed in humiliating fashion.
02:16Despite having recorded vocals for Say My Name, its music video premiered on TRL in
02:21February 2000, featuring their replacements and prefaced by an announcement from Beyonce
02:27that Luckett and Robertson had departed the band.
02:318.
02:39The Everly Brothers Don and Phil Everly were some of the biggest
02:52stars of the 1950s.
02:55The duo turned out genteel hit after hit and were elevated by their distinctive, gorgeous
03:00harmonies as well as their innovative fusion of country and rock music.
03:05However, interpersonal conflicts, clashes with their record label, and their declining
03:10popularity going into the 60s all contributed to an extremely fraught period for the band.
03:23Following this, the Everly Brothers announced their disbandment in 1973.
03:28Their so-called final show saw Phil Everly destroy his guitar and exit the stage.
03:34Don Everly performed without his brother the following night and heartbreakingly declared
03:38that the Everly Brothers died 10 years ago.
03:477.
03:50New Order Following the death of frontman Ian Curtis,
03:58the remaining members of iconic post-punk's Joy Division found global success and renown
04:04as New Order.
04:06Unfortunately, warring egos and big personalities had other plans, as they often do.
04:12After an earlier breakup and reunion in the 1990s, bassist Peter Hook was vocal in his
04:18desire to quit touring in 2006.
04:27What happened next is a little murky.
04:30In 2007, Hook declared that he and frontman Bernard Sumner weren't on speaking terms.
04:37Following this, the band's representation announced that Peter Hook can leave the band,
04:41but this doesn't mean the end of New Order.
04:44The band later reformed in 2011, with Tom Chapman replacing Hook.
04:536.
04:57The Smiths Sometimes, you just have to respect bitter
05:05band members' commitment to hating each other.
05:08That's what happened to influential indie pop band The Smiths, who have steadfastly
05:13declared that they will never reunite.
05:24The drama mostly boiled down to interpersonal tension between singer Morrissey and guitarist
05:30Johnny Marr.
05:31The former took issue with Marr's desire to collaborate with musicians outside their
05:35sphere, and the latter chastised Morrissey for not wanting to go in new musical directions.
05:42A July 1987 NME article entitled, Smiths to Split, detailed that these private struggles
05:48was the nail in the proverbial coffin.
05:51True to their word, The Smiths have remained disbanded since their very public, very ugly
05:56dissolution.
06:005.
06:04The Eagles What's with bands airing their personal grievances
06:15on stage?
06:17Predating the Jane's Addiction scuffle by almost 45 years, The Eagles' July 31,
06:221980 show was highly memorable for a number of reasons.
06:26No one could have expected that a benefit concert on behalf of California Senator Alan
06:31Cranston would spell the end of The Eagles.
06:40Frontman Glenn Frey and lead guitarist Don Felder reportedly spent their entire set,
06:45between songs that is, threatening to physically assault each other.
06:49While we can't repeat exactly what the men said to each other, just know that their next
06:54album credited five attorneys.
07:014.
07:04The Fugees One of the most critically acclaimed and beloved
07:13hip-hop acts of all time, The Fugees were renowned for their sharp, astute lyricism,
07:19as well as their incorporation of several different musical genres.
07:23Although there are differing accounts as to the why of it all, most sources attribute
07:27The Fugees' breakup to the tumultuous relationship between Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill.
07:41What was the final straw?
07:42Hill and Jean's extramarital affair culminated in the revelation that she was pregnant with
07:47his baby.
07:49Even worse, the baby in question was the result of another affair with Rohan Marley,
07:54the son of reggae legend Bob Marley.
07:59Woof.
08:013.
08:02Sex Pistols You might have heard the old expression that
08:11the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
08:16It seems fair to say that the Sex Pistols, the immensely influential godfathers of punk
08:21rock, exemplified this.
08:23The British provocateurs played hard and lived harder, with the behavior of bassist Sid Vicious
08:29increasingly serving as a point of resentment within the band.
08:38The tension finally reached a boiling point on the band's 1978 American tour.
08:43Vicious' severe substance use disorder and antagonizing their audiences caused frontman
08:49Johnny Rotten to close out a San Francisco performance by saying, ever get the feeling
08:55you've been cheated?
08:56Good night.
08:57The band, in its best-known incarnation, never played together again.
09:052.
09:09Guns N' Roses Okay, admittedly, the hard-charging giants
09:20of 80s rock have never technically disbanded.
09:24For long periods of the band's history, Guns N' Roses essentially functioned as
09:28an Axl Rose solo project.
09:31With that having been said, there's a reason for this.
09:34Although the specifics of the turmoil vary depending on which GNR member you ask, everything
09:40seems to point to simmering creative and business disagreements between Rose and guitarist Slash.
09:53The singer allegedly acquired the naming rights to the group and, under duress, forced his
09:58bandmates to legally agree to this.
10:01Rose has vehemently denied that characterization.
10:05Against all odds, and after years of public sparring, Slash and bassist Duff McKagan rejoined
10:10the group in 2016.
10:341.
10:37Oasis While Liam and Noel Gallagher, the brothers
10:45behind Oasis, had been notorious for years of tension and flaring tempers, their conflict
10:51finally spilled over when the band was forced to cancel their appearance at the British
10:55V Festival.
10:57Liam and Noel disagreed over the exact reasoning.
11:00While Noel claimed that Liam had simply been hungover, Liam fired back that he'd contracted
11:06laryngitis and was under doctor's orders not to sing.
11:16This resulted in Liam initiating a lawsuit against his brother, which was dropped after
11:21Noel apologized.
11:23Nevertheless, this led to Noel quitting the band.
11:26The Gallagher brothers would continue to publicly, and rather memorably, trade insults
11:31before announcing a reunion in 2024, set for the following year.
11:43Are there any band-destroying moments we missed?
11:46Let us know in the comments.