- 2 days ago
Some musicians really don't read the room... Join us as we count down the most cringeworthy, misguided, and facepalm-worthy decisions in music history! From unwanted digital "gifts" to bizarre alter egos, these tone-deaf moments left fans scratching their heads. Which musical misstep made you wince the hardest?
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00:00Every iTunes customer gets this album.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most ridiculous,
00:08misguided, and downright baffling decisions made by musicians.
00:12Okay, have you watched any of the two Fire Festival documentaries on Hulu and Netflix?
00:17I have not.
00:19Number 10, Billy Corgan becomes a TNA wrestling executive.
00:23Does being the lead singer of a beloved alternative rock band make you qualified to be a pro wrestling executive?
00:30Well, if you're Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan, it certainly does.
00:38Outside of his love for music, Corgan has been a long-time pro wrestling fan.
00:41And then, you know, wrestling's weird because you have this weird mix of reality and fantasy.
00:47So, when he decided to dip into the business by becoming heavily involved in the organization TNA,
00:52he described it as a dream come true.
00:54That doesn't mean the rest of us weren't baffled.
00:56You're sort of proving my point.
00:58The relationship between Corgan and TNA only lasted a few months before he left over a payment dispute.
01:03But the following year, he proved his passion even more by purchasing NWA, another promotion.
01:09And to this day, he is still NWA's president.
01:12For your request, go to hell!
01:18Go to hell, Matt Cardona!
01:19Go to hell!
01:21Hell!
01:21Number 9. Metallica's infamous snare sound on St. Anger
01:25Lars Ulrich is by no means a generational talent on the drums.
01:29Sure, he has his moments.
01:30But all in all, most fans would agree that his skills are pretty patchy,
01:33especially on Metallica's more complex music.
01:35However, despite his many onstage mistakes and underwhelming moments,
01:39his most infamous crime of all was something entirely different.
01:42My lifestyle determines my dance style.
01:46My lifestyle determines my dance style.
01:49During the turbulent recording sessions for the band's St. Anger album,
01:53Ulrich decided to do something truly drastic.
01:55He adjusted the sound on his snare to the point where it became totally unlistenable.
02:00Read that.
02:01It was like someone was banging old pots and pans,
02:10dwarfing all of their sounds on the record.
02:12To this day, it is regarded as one of the most bizarre performance choices in music history.
02:17All I just see clear, is it me? Is it fear?
02:22Number 8. Kiss take off their makeup.
02:25Love them or hate them, if Kiss did have one thing going for them,
02:28it was the fact that they had a unique look.
02:29The face paint and monstrous costumes adorned by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and co.
02:40were such a huge part of their spectacle during their peak years.
02:43When Kiss announced that they were finally going to shed their makeup
02:45and perform as regular looking dudes, it did not have the desired effect.
02:53All of a sudden, the most unique looking group in rock music
02:56just looked like every other hair metal band on the scene.
02:59Thankfully, it didn't take long until they realized the error of their ways.
03:02Who knows why they decided to do it in the first place?
03:06Number 7. Garth Brooks becomes Chris Gaines.
03:09Garth Brooks has the type of money that most musicians would kill for.
03:13Our lives are better left to change.
03:19If he wanted, he could hang up his hat and guitar and never work again.
03:22That kind of freedom can give you a lot of wiggle room when it comes to your creative choices.
03:26When Brooks decided to create an alter ego named Chris Gaines,
03:29it was one of the wildest U-turns imaginable.
03:37Brooks donned makeup and a wig and sang incredibly melodramatic music,
03:41a far cry from his country roots.
03:43People were understandably shocked and bemused by the whole thing.
03:46Sure, Brooks can do whatever he wants in his free time,
03:56but the fact that the album was critically panned was not a surprise at all.
04:05Number 6. Robin Thicke Tries to Win His Ex-Wife Back
04:08To say that Robin Thicke had a dramatic fall from grace will be putting it lightly.
04:18First of all, his super creepy hit single Blurred Lines
04:21ended up getting him in trouble for plagiarism.
04:23Then, his super creepy performance at the VMA Awards opposite Miley Cyrus
04:27left everyone with a weird taste in their mouths.
04:33After that, his wife Paula Patton left him.
04:36So, in super creepy fashion,
04:39he wrote an entire album entitled Paula
04:41that revolved around his desire to win her back.
04:47As you might have guessed, it did not work.
04:49To make matters worse, it sold hilariously poorly.
04:52To this day, Thicke's career has never managed to recover.
04:59Number 5. Madonna's NFT Series
05:02Madonna is a legend of pop music
05:04and has virtually nothing left to prove after decade upon decade of dominance on the charts.
05:15That doesn't mean she's not still trying to make a splash.
05:18In 2022, she decided to release her Mother of Creation NFT collection.
05:22Now, for those of you who don't know,
05:24I can't show you this because it's literally like Rule 34 adult content.
05:28On paper, it might have actually been a wise move.
05:31A sign that Madonna was getting with the times
05:33and making sharp business decisions.
05:35In reality, the NFTs involved 3D graphics of the singer giving birth to insects and plants.
05:41Yes, you heard us.
05:43Literally giving birth to them.
05:45I'm doing what women have been doing since the beginning of time,
05:48which is giving birth.
05:49But on a more existential level,
05:51I'm giving birth to art and creativity and we would be lost without both.
05:55You know, I'm going to give Madonna something.
05:57She is probably the world's greatest troll right now.
06:00Despite her attempts to explain it,
06:02this went down just about as poorly as expected.
06:04Let's be real.
06:05No one wants or needs to see that.
06:08Number 4.
06:09Kanye West Interrupts Taylor Swift
06:10On the long list of crazy things Kanye West has done,
06:14his 2009 VMA's outburst might seem a little tame.
06:17Thank you so much.
06:20I always dreamed about what it would be like to maybe win one of these someday,
06:24but I never actually thought that would happen.
06:27Despite the downward spiral he has put himself on these days,
06:30we've come to expect that from Kanye.
06:31Yo, Taylor.
06:34I'm really happy for you.
06:35I'm going to let you finish.
06:37But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.
06:40Back in 09,
06:41watching him interrupt Taylor Swift's acceptance speech
06:43to voice his own opinion on who should have won
06:46was so out of left field.
06:48One of the best videos of all time.
06:50We all knew he was brash and pretty out of touch anyway.
06:54Even by his standards though,
06:55blatantly ruining Swift's special moment
06:57to make the whole thing about himself
06:58was a new level of obnoxiousness.
07:00Number 3.
07:01Scooter Braun Buys Taylor Swift's Masters
07:03Scooter Braun surely thought
07:05that he was making the business move of the century
07:07when he decided to buy the Masters
07:09for Taylor Swift's first six studio albums.
07:12Sure, Taylor herself wanted to buy them
07:18and retain control,
07:20but in the end,
07:20Braun won at the negotiating table.
07:22What he likely didn't anticipate
07:23was the huge public backlash he received as a result.
07:26Find out what you want
07:29Be that girl for a month
07:31We all know just how passionate Taylor's fans are
07:34and once Swift labeled him as manipulative in the media,
07:37his reputation was forever ruined.
07:38So it's gonna be forever
07:40Oh, it's gonna go down in flames
07:43To make matters worse,
07:45Swift went on to re-record the albums in their entirety
07:47and eventually,
07:49when Braun decided to sell up,
07:50she bought the Masters back for herself,
07:52coming out on top emphatically.
07:53I got a blank space, baby
07:56And I'll write your name
07:58Number 2
07:59Ja Rule and Fire Festival
08:01Aligning yourself with a conman like Billy McFarland
08:04is always going to have a catastrophic effect
08:06on your reputation.
08:07For Ja Rule,
08:08becoming a major spokesman
08:09for the soon-to-be-doomed Fire Festival
08:11was a hilarious misstep.
08:13I'm gonna let my partner in crime here,
08:15Billy McFarland,
08:16give y'all an introduction of
08:18what fire is
08:19and what it's bringing to the table.
08:21Fire Festival saw McFarland
08:23dupe a whole bunch of ticket holders
08:24into attending a festival
08:26that did not truly exist.
08:27A schedule was promised
08:29that was never kept,
08:30scheduled artists
08:30were never going to show up or scheduled,
08:32and even basic amenities
08:34were virtually non-existent.
08:35They're just telling everyone
08:36it's a free fraud
08:37to just find an empty tent and grab it.
08:39The whole thing was a plot
08:40by McFarland to defraud investors
08:42and for Ja Rule.
08:43Although he was sued
08:44alongside the co-creator,
08:45he was later dismissed from the suit.
08:47Whether he was also duped
08:48or genuinely complicit,
08:49the damage to his reputation was done.
08:52Why do you think people would trust you
08:54to go to that festival?
08:56Well, I mean,
08:58it wasn't my fault, right?
08:59Before we continue,
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09:15Number one,
09:16U2's gift to the masses.
09:18The general consensus
09:19on U2 frontman Bono
09:21is that he has an inflated sense
09:22of his own importance.
09:31When he and his band
09:32decided to team up with Apple
09:33to release U2's latest album
09:35to every iTunes store customer
09:36on the planet,
09:37Bono probably thought it was genius.
09:38We went to Apple
09:40and we said,
09:41look,
09:42we're not interested in free music.
09:44We think music is,
09:46you know,
09:47undervalued.
09:48It's a sacrament
09:49as far as we're concerned.
09:50The problem?
09:51Well,
09:52a lot of people woke up
09:53one morning
09:53with U2's Songs of Innocence
09:55on their iPhone
09:56without their consent.
09:57To make matters worse,
09:58at first,
09:59they couldn't choose to delete it.
10:00What was intended as a gift
10:09ended up being perceived
10:10as an egomaniac
10:11forcing his music
10:12onto your device
10:13without ever asking permission.
10:15Eventually,
10:15Bono apologized
10:16and took the blame,
10:17but people still mock U2
10:19about it to this day.
10:19Be sure to let us know
10:27in the comments below
10:28if we missed any other
10:29hilariously misguided decisions
10:30from musicians.
10:31It happened in an instant.
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