The 10 Bands Who Hate Each Other the Most
Michael Henderson
Fame and fortune aren't always an escape from the frustrations of everyday work life—that is to say, even rock stars have to work alongside people they hate. Behind the big and often volatile personalities of rock and roll are often even bigger feuds between band members. Read on for 10 bands who couldn't stand each other, even while they were making beautiful music together.
RELATED: The Mamas & the Papas Imploded Over "Toxic" Relationships, New Book Says.
1 Aerosmith
Decades of excess unsurprisingly led to troubled relationships within Aerosmith. From the long-turbulent relationship between Aerosmith frontmen Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, who occasionally knock each other into the audience, to the time Perry reportedly left the band when his wife got in a fight with the wife of bassist Tom Hamilton in 1979, the group has often struggled to get along.
In 2008, Tyler announced he would be working on "Brand Tyler," hiring his own management along the way, leading Perry to announce on Twitter (now X) that the band was looking for a new lead singer. Although they reunited in 2012, drummer Joey Kramer sued other members of the band in 2020, alleging that they unfairly excluded him due to needing to recover from a minor injury. Meanwhile, rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford, who left the band for three years to pursue solo work in 1981, has said that coping with the "massive egos" of Aerosmith was "a colossal pain in the [expletive]" for him.
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2 The Eagles
Although the Eagles are known for songs like "Take it Easy," behind the scenes, tensions simmered, particularly between Don Felder and Glenn Frey. The animosity escalated during the recording of the 1976 album Hotel California and culminated in an onstage fight that led to their breakup. Although they reunited in 1993, Felder was ousted from the band in 2001.
3 The Everly Brothers
Brothers Don and Phil Everly sang together from the time they were children as part of the radio act the Everly Family. But the blood between the "Bye Bye Love" singers was so bad that they were nicknamed "The Hatred Brothers." The two parted ways for a 10-year separation after Don showed up drunk to a concert in 1973, according to Rolling Stone. The feud continued even after Phil's death in 2014 when his estate sued Don over the authorship of the '60s hit "Cathy's Clown," a dispute that continued even after Don died in 2021.
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4 Fleetwood Mac
Recorded amid "vicious name-calling" among its members, according to engineer Ken Caillat, Fleetwood Mac's 1977 megahit album Rumours documents some of the most famous tensions in music history. This period saw the ugly breakup of two couples within the band: Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, and John and Christine McVie. Adding insult to injury, McVie paired up with the band's lighting director, Curry Grant, only to have her then-husband perform on her song based on her new beau, "You Make Loving Fun."
5 The Kinks
Ray and Dave Davies of the influential '60s rock band The Kinks are another example of musical brothers who just can't stand each other. Dave has called his older brother a "vampire" and "control freak." This bitterness went on well after the peak of their fame and 1996 breakup to include the time Ray stomped on Dave's cake at his 50th birthday party.
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6 KISS
Original KISS members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss haven't gotten along with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley since the early '80s, when creative differences and substance abuse problems led to their departures from the band. After reuniting with the group in the '90s, the two left again over salary and creative disputes. In 2023, Simmons revealed Frehley and Criss even turned down his offer to perform in KISS's final shows.
7 Oasis
After an abusive childhood, Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher emerged as '90s Britpop stars known for their volatile personalities and frequent feuding. Following decades of conflict and temporary departures from the band, Noel announced his plan to leave it for good in 2009, saying in a statement: "People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer."
RELATED: George Harrison Dissed Fellow Beatles' Songs: "Not the Greatest."
8 Pink Floyd
Creative tensions between Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and David Gilmour arose in the late '70s as Waters pushed the band to take a more conceptual and politically driven approach to its music. This ultimately led to Waters' departure from Pink Floyd in 1985 and a protracted legal battle over the rights to the band's name and music. Recent online comments from Gilmour's wife and Pink Floyd lyricist Polly Samson accusing Gilmour of being "antisemitic to [his] rotten core" suggest the two still aren't exactly fond of each other.
9 The Ramones
Ramones singer Joey Ramone and guitarist Johnny Ramone were already at odds over their political beliefs (Joey was liberal, Johnny a Republican) when a love triangle tore them apart in 1980. Shortly after Joey and then-girlfriend Linda Danielle went shopping for engagement rings, Johnny wooed her away, per Yahoo!. Johnny and Linda went on to marry in 1984. Although Johnny and Joey continued to tour together, the two rarely spoke.
"They still worked with each other but it bothered Joey for years—from the minute she left him till the day he died," tour manager Monte Melnick recalled in 2003's On The Road With the Ramones.
10 The Who
After years of contention, surviving members of The Who Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey record separately and even stay in different hotels, per a Rolling Stone article in which Townshend described Daltrey's reaction to sharing a stage with him as "irritation that I'm even there."
"Our relationship is a working one, and that's about as far as it goes," Daltrey revealed to Forbes last year. "But when we get on stage, there's a chemistry that's created. When we're playing well, it starts to kick in properly. It's still as wonderful as ever. We never really had a strong relationship off of the stage, though. It's as simple as that."
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Andrew Miller Andrew Miller is a pop culture writer living in New York. Read more Filed Under1970s • 1980s • Celebrities • Entertainment • Music Read This Next
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