Top 10 Songs Written About Former Bandmates

MsMojo

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.

Transcript

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?

11:49Check out this other recent clip from MsMojo.

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