From internal conflicts to musical differences, some of rock's biggest bands have had serious beef with their drummers. Join us as we explore the most dramatic fallouts between legendary bands and their percussionists, featuring stories of betrayal, substance abuse, and intense personality clashes.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, where we'll be discussing drummers who became despised by their fellow musicians.
00:23They were arguably the most important band in metal history, but also deeply dysfunctional.
00:30During the 70s, the other band members would frequently prank drummer Ward.
00:41This involved things like setting his beard on fire.
00:44He even almost died because of a prank in 1972, when the band spray painted him gold.
00:50In 2011, they had serious drama after the band reunion.
00:54The end tour wasn't the full line-up, it wasn't Bill, it wasn't them playing with us.
00:59Ward was left out of their album, plus the subsequent tour.
01:03According to him, the contract offered was beyond unfair.
01:07According to Ozzy, he was too unhealthy to tour and Ward was just playing the victim.
01:12Ward agreed to play with the band one final time in 2025, implying the group has finally settled things.
01:19Ozzy just called Bill and said, you know, we're planning on doing this, would you be a part of it?
01:28And he just said, yeah, I'll be there.
01:30Number 9, Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater.
01:33Portnoy is potentially the most accomplished technical drummer in metal history.
01:38A co-founder of the prog metal band Dream Theater, Portnoy eventually left in 2010.
01:53Initially, the split seemed amicable, but it soon turned into drama.
01:57Portnoy claimed to want a break, but a few months later, when he tried to return, they ghosted him.
02:03Coming back, I needed to mend the personal relationships with all the guys and make amends for possibly hurting them.
02:11Portnoy took it personally, and it caused a schism among the fan base.
02:15One time, a fan asked him to sign a shirt featuring an album he wasn't involved in.
02:20This upset Portnoy so much, he complained about it on Facebook.
02:24Thankfully, things are cool now, with 2023 seeing his long-awaited return to Dream Theater.
02:30Night terror, hysteria, nocturnal trial by fire.
02:39Number 8, Mick Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mac.
02:43Rumors is considered one of the greatest pop rock albums ever, with one of the most tumultuous recordings in history.
02:49At the time, the band was made up of two couples and Mick Fleetwood.
03:01Both the couples were breaking up during recording, and Mick decided to have a brief affair with Stevie Nicks.
03:06It should be a film. It should be a play or something of that nature, because it's like so much fire and passion and guided and misguided emotions. Fascinating.
03:21Throughout the whole ordeal, he acted like the band dad, but his multiple affairs tainted his moral high ground.
03:28According to Mick, making rumors almost killed them.
03:31On the bright side, it made for an amazing breakup album, which still gets millions of plays globally.
03:36You can go your own way. Go your own way.
03:42Number 7, Phil Collins.
03:45Genesis slash Led Zeppelin.
03:48As the drummer for Genesis, Collins was a major driving force, contributing significantly to their success.
03:55By 1985, he was considered a legendary drummer.
04:04An even more renowned drummer was John Bonham, who founded Led Zeppelin.
04:09Bonham tragically died in 1980, so when Led Zeppelin was asked to play at Live Aid, someone had to fill in.
04:16It was their first major performance without Bonham, and they decided to bring in Phil Collins.
04:22He didn't rehearse and hadn't heard most of the songs, so the performance was diabolical.
04:41Jimmy Page and the rest of Led Zeppelin pointed the finger at Phil Collins.
04:46The set was never included on DVD releases, showing how badly Zeppelin hated the performance, and by extension, Collins.
05:02Number 6, Dave Abrazis.
05:04Curl Jam.
05:05During the peak of the 90s grunge craze, Curl Jam signed up Dave Abrazis as their drummer.
05:10He played on two of their biggest records, Verses and Vitalogy.
05:22Even though he killed it musically, the band couldn't stand him.
05:25Like most grunge bands, they opposed corporations.
05:28In protest, they boycotted Ticketmaster in 1994.
05:32The bass player and guitarist for Pearl Jam found themselves at center stage in an unusual venue, a House subcommittee hearing room,
05:39where members of Congress wanted to hear about their beef with the nation's largest ticket distribution firm, Ticketmaster.
05:45Well, Abrazis didn't entirely agree with this, not sharing their anti-capitalist sentiments.
05:51Thus, they fired him in 1994 due to personality conflicts.
05:56Thankfully, in 2017, Pearl Jam invited all five of their former drummers to their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction,
06:03meaning their hatred is likely a thing of the past.
06:06We had the great Dave Abrazis.
06:08He was a great drummer.
06:09He is a great drummer.
06:10He is a great drummer.
06:11He's a great fucking drummer.
06:15And we wish him well.
06:165.
06:17Tony McCarroll, Oasis
06:19It's no secret that Noel and Liam Gallagher can be a pair of rock and roll divas.
06:24One example comes from 1995, specifically towards Oasis founding member Tony McCarroll.
06:38Not long after their debut album Definitely Maybe was a huge success, Noel and Tony began to fall out.
06:45Noel claimed his drumming is nowhere near good enough for Oasis, which motivated him to fire him completely.
06:51Four years later, in 1999, he tried suing Oasis for £18 million, claiming he was owed compensation.
07:10It ended when he was awarded £550,000 out of courts.
07:14But it doesn't seem like they ever became friends again.
07:17I was shell-shocked.
07:20Still, to this day, it's with me.
07:22I think about it every day, believe it or not.
07:244.
07:26Pete Best, The Beatles
07:28There are some Beatles fans who contend that Ringo wasn't as good as the drummer Pete Best.
07:33Help me get my feet back on the ground.
07:36The man he replaced in the group isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles.
07:40But John Lennon thought he was a lousy drummer and could barely keep time.
07:45Best later said in an interview that this was actually jealousy.
07:48Regardless of his ability, the way they cut him out was particularly harsh.
07:52Best later sued them for defamation of character, asking for $18 million.
08:05He never got this amount, though.
08:07It was settled out of court.
08:09Best has warmed up to the Beatles in recent decades, and now even has a street in Liverpool named after him.
08:153.
08:25Mick Avery, The Kinks
08:27The most prolific members of The Kinks were frontmen Ray and Dave Davies, followed by drummer Mick Avery.
08:35The latter was a member for 21 years, between 1963 and 1984.
08:45Despite his long time with the band, Dave Davies had a lot of issues with him.
08:50This led to numerous fights, many live on stage.
08:53The most famous was in Cardiff, 1965, when Avery knocked Davies out with a cymbal stand.
09:05Things got so bad that Avery decided to leave completely in 1984.
09:10You'll be happy to hear they've since warmed up to each other.
09:13Davies even invited Avery to rejoin, but he decided to pass since it sounded exhausting.
09:19What's it like being back together?
09:21Because it hasn't always been easy in the past, has it?
09:23It's terrible.
09:24It's simmered down a bit.
09:292.
09:30Steven Adler, Guns N' Roses
09:33Few rock stars have been the centre of as much drama as Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose.
09:39You know where you are?
09:40You in the jungle, baby!
09:44You know where you are!
09:48In 1985, the band hired Steven Adler to be their drummer.
09:51They then achieved global success together, which Adler enjoyed being a part of right
09:56up until 1990.
09:58By then, Adler had grown heavily dependent on substances, which Axl got quite irate about.
10:05That's what it is.
10:06Sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
10:08I just got so involved in it that I got lost.
10:14He even threatened to leave if Adler didn't clean up.
10:18Adler's dark habits got the better of him, and eventually got him fired after being physically
10:22unable to drum.
10:24Thankfully, Adler's better now, and he's friendly with the band again.
10:29In 2012, Adler joined their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a ceremony that Rose decided to skip.
10:36Hi, guys.
10:37I'm Steven Adler.
10:38I play drums and a cowbell.
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10:56Jokes aside, there's a drummer more infamous than Animal, and his name is Lars Ulrich.
11:11If he wasn't a founding member of Metallica, he might have been kicked out decades ago.
11:16Some in the drumming community think he's bad at his instrument, and even James Hetfield's
11:20first impression was that his drumming was terrible.
11:23Things got most heated between Ulrich and the band during the St. Anger era, when Ulrich replaced his snare drum with a trash can.
11:44At one point, Hetfield said he didn't want to play if Ulrich was involved.
11:48The shambolic situation was recorded for the documentary Metallica, Some Kind of Monster,
11:54making the intense drama publicly available.
11:57That was good.
11:58You sure I don't have to play it again?
12:01Yeah, sure.
12:03Good practice though.
12:05For what?
12:06Were there any controversial drummers we forgot to include?
12:09Let us know in the comments below.
12:11I know I hurt them when I left them, you know, and I always felt really bad about that.
12:16I made a decision that essentially was very selfish.
12:19It was very selfish.
12:20It was very selfish.
12:21It was very selfish.
12:26It's very selfish.
12:27We didn't now mug-igonged away there's too much.
12:29I came back to you when Sir.