11 Musicians Who Were So Awful To Work With, Their Bandmates Still Talk About It

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1. Let's commencement with 1 that amazed maine — Lauryn Hill. In 1998, 4 musicians who worked extensively connected The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill sued her, saying she failed to springiness them the songwriting oregon accumulation recognition they deserved. Hill called the suit “without immoderate merit,” but settled retired of court. Then there's pianist Robert Glasper, who said helium and a set rehearsed 10 hours a time for a week for a 2008 show, lone to beryllium told the time earlier the gig that Hill didn’t similar however they were playing and wanted to chopped everyone’s wage successful half. He besides said, "She likes to occurrence bands. I tin rattle disconnected 15 guys disconnected the apical of my head. She volition spell connected circuit with a band, and successful the metropolis wherever they’re doing their show, she volition clasp auditions."

In 2011, guitarist Jay Gore sued Hill for unpaid wages, claiming, "After shows, Hill would request that the musicians and roadworthy enactment unit be meetings wherever she would prosecute successful a person-by-person critique and berating. At 1 point, Hill made a connection successful beforehand of the circuit unit to the effect that 'I can't judge I americium paying you fools, you should beryllium paying me.'"

BEST SONGS: “Doo Wop (That Thing),” “Ex-Factor,” “Everything Is Everything”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: After an attempted Fugees reunion went badly, bandmate Pras Michel said, “Before I enactment with Lauryn Hill again, you person a amended accidental of seeing Osama Bin Laden and [George W.] Bush getting a latte.”

2. Legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich admitted, “I person the worst temper successful the world. When I suffer it, ohio baby.” He was truthful terrifying that his set secretly recorded his tirades, which became celebrated arsenic “The Buddy Tapes.” On one, Rich screeched, "I’m accustomed to moving with fig 1 musicians. I’m NOT accustomed to moving with half-assed kids who deliberation they wrote the fuckin’ euphony business. You got a agelong fuckin’ mode to go. You’re each a clump of fuckin’ children! There’s not a antheral among you…not 1 antheral who tin spell retired determination and play the occupation similar a man!" On another, aft the set made a azygous mistake during a set, helium bellowed, "How DARE you telephone yourselves professional! Assholes!! You got obscurity to fuckin' spell the adjacent acceptable 'cause if I perceive 1 fuckin' clam from anybody, you've had it. One clam and this full fuckin' set is done TONIGHT. Try me!"

Rich wasn’t conscionable having a fewer atrocious nights. A review of his biography Traps, the Drum Wonder called Rich “foul-mouthed, foul-tempered, sometimes violent” and said helium fought with his wife, Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, his manager, the IRS, and members of his ain band, “whom helium treated without mercy.” Another reappraisal said Rich played “sadistic applicable jokes connected his closest friends.” Let's extremity connected different punctuation from the tapes: "What benignant of playing bash you deliberation this is? What benignant of miscues bash you telephone this? What fuckin’ set bash you deliberation you’re playing on, MOTHERFUCKERS! You wanna fuck with maine connected the bandstand?!"

BEST SONGS: “West Side Story Medley,” “Channel One Suite,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: Berating trombonist Dave Panichi for having a beard, and giving him 2 weeks to determine if helium wants “a beard oregon a job."

3. There are a batch of reasons to deliberation Sean “Diddy” Combs isn't the champion dude, but here's 1 much — a batch of musicians who worked for him had brutal things to accidental astir the experience. Rapper Mark Curry said, “There’s antithetic ways you tin termination a person... I’ve noticed him termination a batch of people’s spirits.” Another erstwhile Bad Boy creator said, “I don’t person thing bully to accidental erstwhile it comes to my clip with Bad Boy. It was not a bully acquisition and 1 I truly don’t privation to relive.”

At slightest helium paid his musicians well. Wait, sorry, helium didn't bash that either, apparently. Mase blasted Combs successful 2020 saying helium “purposely starved” his artists and alleged that Diddy paid him conscionable $20,000 for his publishing rights erstwhile helium was 19. Mase said helium aboriginal offered $2 cardinal to bargain the rights backmost and was turned down. (Combs yet returned publishing rights to Mase successful 2023.) Then there’s erstwhile Danity Kane vocalist Aubrey O’Day who said moving nether Combs was “torture,” afloat of caput games, betrayal, manipulation, and women pitted against each other. She besides claimed she was fired due to the fact that she “wasn’t consenting to bash what was expected of maine — not talent-wise, but successful different areas.”

Working successful the Bad Boy offices wasn't overmuch better. One root described Combs arsenic “so volatile” that radical did immoderate helium said conscionable to enactment successful his bully graces, and erstwhile Bad Boy president Kirk Burrowes said that Combs ne'er forgot a grudge. Other employees said you had to larn however to “speak Puffy” if you wanted to past there, and that “He’s idiosyncratic you don’t privation to marque an force retired of.”

BEST SONGS: “I’ll Be Missing You,” “It’s All About the Benjamins,” “Bad Boy for Life”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: In 1999, euphony enforcement Steve Stoute alleged that Combs and 2 different men bushed him with a telephone, chair, and champagne vessel aft Combs became aggravated implicit an edit of Nas’s “Hate Me Now” video. Stoute suffered a breached arm. Combs aboriginal pleaded blameworthy to harassment, paid Stoute an undisclosed settlement, and was ordered to be a one-day anger-management programme (which, I'm sure, fixed everything).

4. Long earlier shaper Phil Spector was a convicted murderer, aggregate legendary musicians described moving with him arsenic genuinely frightening. Leonard Cohen remembered Spector arsenic being obsessed with guns to the constituent that “the euphony was a subsidiary enterprise.” At 1 point, helium said, Spector enactment an limb astir him, pressed a .45 into his neck, and said, “Leonard, I emotion you.” Cohen replied, “I anticipation you do, Phil.” He aboriginal called the medium they made unneurotic “grotesque.” Meanwhile, during sessions for John Lennon's Rock ’n’ Roll*, Spector reportedly fired a pistol into the ceiling. Lennon’s response was: “Phil, if you’re going to termination me, termination me. But don’t fuck with maine ears. I request them.”

The Ramones’ Dee Dee Ramone wrote that Spector erstwhile pointed a weapon astatine his heart, and Johnny Ramone says Spector made him play the aforesaid opening chord to “Rock ’n’ Roll High School” implicit and implicit for hours. Blondie considered making an medium with him, but noped retired of determination aft Spector answered the doorway with a weapon successful 1 manus and a vessel of vino successful the other. His location was besides ice-cold, and helium wouldn't fto anyone basal up. Chris Stein's verdict: “He was excessively weird — a small creepy for Debbie, too.”

BEST SONGS: “Be My Baby,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” “River Deep – Mountain High”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT (OTHER THAN, YOU KNOW, THE MURDER): When, according to his then-wife Ronnie Spector, helium turned their location into a near-prison with guards and fences, hid her shoes to marque it harder for her to leave, and told her parent helium had a glass-topped coffin successful the basement wherever helium would show Ronnie’s assemblage if she ever near him.

5. Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler erstwhile called Axl Rose “the astir ruthless and meanest person” helium had ever met. Years later, Adler upgraded that assessment: “He’s not a diva, he’s an asshole. One of the top assholes of each clip — and I accidental that with love.” His bandmates besides hated his wont of taking the signifier VERY late. Duff McKagan wrote that “almost each night” the set could perceive crowds getting “antsy and past ugly” portion they waited backstage. He aboriginal recalled audiences of 50,000 chanting “bullshit, bullshit, bullshit” portion the remainder of Guns N' Roses sat astir waiting for Axl, sometimes for 2 to 4 hours. Duff said determination was “a batch of choler wrong the band” implicit it, but they were reluctant to face him excessively aggressively due to the fact that they feared “he would conscionable alert home."

Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, meanwhile, remembered that radical backstage were instructed not to beryllium successful immoderate hallway Axl mightiness locomotion through. Once, though, helium spotted Rose being escorted down an different bare corridor wearing “Axl Rose” sneakers, tiny reddish shorts, a backwards shot cap, and a floor-length fur coat. Stone Temple Pilots' Scott Weiland was nary instrumentality either. When Rose attacked Slash and his caller set Velvet Revolver, Weiland fired back: “Get successful the ring. Go to the gym, motherfucker, oregon if you prefer, get a caller wig, motherfucker.” He past called Rose a “fat, botox-faced, wig-wearin’ fuck” with an “unoriginal, uncreative small mind.”

BEST SONGS: “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” “November Rain”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: During a 1991 show, Rose spotted a instrumentality taking pictures, ordered information to confiscate the camera, and erstwhile they didn’t determination accelerated enough, yelled, “I’ll instrumentality it, goddamn it!” He past dove into the crowd, tackled the fan, and struck radical earlier being pulled backmost onstage. Rose past blamed the “lame-ass security,” threw down his microphone, and walked disconnected — helping trigger the infamous Riverport riot.

6. When guitarist Eric Erlandson met Courtney Love done an advertisement she’d placed looking for musicians, helium was “pretty frightened disconnected close away” and recovered her “kind of overbearing.” He joined the set anyway, reasoning that Love’s strength needed “some absorption and discipline." Hole drummer Patty Schemel, meanwhile, said making Celebrity Skin was 1 of the worst periods of her life. When shaper Michael Beinhorn pushed to regenerate her connected the medium with a league drummer, Love’s mentation was brutally matter-of-fact: “Look Pats, he’s got a guy. It’s conscionable business, okay?” Schemel said, “I mislaid my mind... it conscionable broke me.” She near the band, and aboriginal wrote that the acquisition helped nonstop her backmost into addiction.

Bassist Melissa Auf der Maur has a much affectionate presumption of Love — but adjacent hers comes with a beauteous bonzer description. In 2026 she called Love “a maniac and a leader — and yes, you tin beryllium both.” And Erlandson, for each his loyalty, aboriginal described Hole’s interior dynamic similar this: “Courtney’s erratic, everybody knows Courtney.”

BEST SONGS: “Violet,” “Doll Parts,” “Celebrity Skin”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: At Lollapalooza successful 1995, Love confronted Bikini Kill vocalist Kathleen Hanna implicit what Love claimed was a gag astir her daughter, Frances Bean — thing Hanna denied saying. Erlandson remembered Love throwing candy astatine Hanna and “kind of” slapping toward her face; Hanna said Love struck her, and Love herself aboriginal bragged, “I punched retired Kathleen Hanna.” Hanna responded by screaming, “I situation you to a feminist statement successful immoderate assemblage successful America!” Love aboriginal pleaded blameworthy to battle and got a suspended one-year condemnation positive anger-management classes.

7. David Crosby erstwhile said, “Almost everyone I’ve ever worked with hates me. I tin beryllium an asshole.” And...pretty much. His erstwhile Byrds bandmate Roger McGuinn called Crosby “insufferable,” peculiarly due to the fact that of his governmental rants during concerts, and different Byrd, Chris Hillman, thought Crosby had a superiority complex. The 2 fired Crosby successful 1967, saying helium was “impossible to enactment with” and that they’d beryllium amended disconnected without him. Crosby past co-founded Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young). The radical had tremendous success, but the idiosyncratic relationships yet became a disaster. By 2021, Stephen Stills was the lone subordinate helium was inactive speaking to, and successful 2016, his erstwhile adjacent person Graham Nash called him “fucking awful” and said, “I’ve saved his ass for 45 years, and helium treated maine similar shit.”

Even modern musicians were improbable to beryllium fans. He said his canine could bushed Kanye West astatine chess, and aft Phoebe Bridgers smashed a guitar connected SNL successful 2021, Crosby called it “pathetic” and “stupid.” Bridgers responded by calling him a “little bitch.” Crosby struggled for years with cocaine and heroin addiction and yet got cleanable portion serving situation clip successful 1986 connected cause and weapons charges. He had besides endured large idiosyncratic tragedy, including the decease of his woman Christine Hinton successful a car mishap erstwhile helium was successful his 20s. Is that an excuse for being a dick? Probably not! But it's worthy mentioning. Seems similar helium had a large rima and knew the harm it did, which makes it a small sad.

BEST SONGS: "Eight Miles High," "Wooden Ships," "Guinnevere"

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: Claiming publically helium was kicked retired of the Byrds due to the fact that they were prudes who didn't similar his opus Triad (about a threesome), and not due to the fact that of his obnoxious behavior.

8. David Byrne, according to the different Talking Heads, was a immense symptom successful the ass. Bassist Tina Weymouth said, “He volition usage you until helium has nary much usage for you,” and blamed others erstwhile things went wrong. Byrne also, contempt spending much than a decennary making hugely palmy records with them, referred to his erstwhile Talking Heads bandmates arsenic simply “people I utilized to play with.” Drummer Chris Frantz accused Byrne of taking sole penning recognition for “Warning Sign” adjacent though Frantz helped constitute it. Byrne besides took virtually each of the songwriting recognition connected the archetypal pressing of Fear of Music, contempt Frantz arguing that songs similar “Life During Wartime” grew retired of Weymouth’s bass enactment and the band’s corporate work. After the others complained, immoderate of the credits were revised — including “Life During Wartime,” which is present credited to each 4 Talking Heads.

Frantz added that erstwhile helium and Weymouth’s broadside project, Tom Tom Club, went gold, Byrne simply stared retired the model and said nothing, aboriginal dismissing their occurrence arsenic “merely commercialized music.” Byrne himself fundamentally admitted helium was intolerable erstwhile helium described his cognition toward collaborators as: “Nobody understands what I privation to do. I person to beryllium the brag guy. ‘No, don’t bash it that way. You’ve got to bash it this way. No, you f---ing idiot.’” He conceded, “I mightiness person been close but you don’t person to woody with radical that way.”

BEST SONGS: “Once successful a Lifetime,” “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody),” “Psycho Killer”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: Telling a paper that Talking Heads had breached up earlier really telling the different 3 Talking Heads.

9. James Brown sang "I consciousness good!" but his musicians seldom did. Drummer Clyde Stubblefield said Brown fined them perpetually — and sometimes you didn’t adjacent request to marque a mistake, conscionable bash thing a small different. Trombonist Fred Wesley said Brown tried to power “every facet of your life,” from what happened onstage to however musicians looked. Brown could beryllium spectacularly petty astir his rules, too. Wesley remembered playing truthful hard astatine the Apollo that his articulator divided unfastened and a tiny spot of humor landed connected his uniform. Brown fined him $50. "I thought that was kinda unfair since helium worked maine truthful hard," Wesley said. "Got a $50 fine, I wasn’t making but $200.” Wesley besides said that Brown could marque $350,000–$500,000 successful a week portion keeping his set payroll astir $6,000, and helium begrudged adjacent paying that much. Oh, and sometimes helium withheld wage too.

A teenage Bootsy Collins — whose set the Pacemakers was recruited aft astir of Brown’s erstwhile set walked retired — said Brown would deliberately teardrop the set down adjacent aft a large show: “Any clip that you knew you’d played a large gig, and the radical were loving it, he’d telephone you into his dressing country and say… ‘You conscionable ain’t connected it. You conscionable ain’t connected the one.’” Bootsy said Brown erstwhile told a sax subordinate to propulsion his horn distant due to the fact that helium was playing “trash,” and astatine 1 constituent told the full band, “Y’all the top set successful the world, but you conscionable can’t play.” Bootsy yet concluded Brown was deliberately messing with them to marque them signifier harder.

BEST SONGS: “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” “I Got You (I Feel Good),” “The Payback”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: In 1988, Brown reportedly stormed into an security seminar carrying a shotgun aft becoming furious that idiosyncratic had utilized his backstage bathroom. He past fled constabulary successful his pickup, starring them connected a two-state pursuit and continuing to thrust for miles adjacent aft officers changeable retired his tires.

10. The Smiths' Morrissey is improbable to beryllium connected immoderate of his erstwhile bandmates' Christmas lists. Drummer Mike Joyce sued him and Johnny Marr implicit not being paid reasonably successful the set and won: the tribunal awarded him £1 cardinal successful backmost royalties and a 25% stock going forward. More than 30 years later, Joyce said helium inactive has nary narration with Morrissey: “I don’t consciousness it volition ever hap betwixt myself and Morrissey.” Bassist Andy Rourke kept playing with Morrissey aft the radical broke up, and adjacent wrote “Yes, I’m Blind” and “The Girl Least Likely To.” But erstwhile helium was asked years aboriginal if helium was paid for his songwriting, helium replied simply: “I don’t get paid for it.” Asked wherefore helium didn’t situation Morrissey, helium said, “He’s intolerable to get ahold of.”

And past there's guitarist Johnny Marr, who, portion remastering the Smiths catalog, offered an olive subdivision by emailing Morrissey, “You tin truly perceive the emotion successful it.” Morrissey didn’t respond. Marr yet said: “You tin lone effort and beryllium affable with idiosyncratic for truthful agelong without getting thing back. You conscionable think: ‘Ah, fuck it.’” Morrissey wasn't immoderate amended erstwhile the set was together. There's a famous story that helium fired Rourke (who was struggling with heroin addiction) with a enactment near connected his car reading, “Andy — you person near The Smiths. Goodbye and bully luck, Morrissey.” Morrissey denies that story, truthful ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

BEST SONGS: “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” “How Soon Is Now?,” “Everyday Is Like Sunday”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: After Mike Joyce successfully sued for a fairer stock of the Smiths’ royalties, the justice successful the lawsuit described Morrissey arsenic “devious, truculent and unreliable wherever his ain interests were astatine stake.”

11. Former Met wide manager Schuyler Chapin said that opera vocalist Kathleen Battle “is the lone creator I cognize of successful my 43 years of dealing with artists who has managed to alienate practically everyone successful each azygous spot wherever she’s ever been.” And determination were receipts. At the Boston Symphony, Battle bombarded absorption with petty complaints astir her edifice nutrient and threw the adjunct conductor retired of rehearsals. At the San Francisco Opera, she seemingly antagonized the chorus and orchestra truthful severely that, aft she left, backstage employees had T-shirts made speechmaking “I SURVIVED THE BATTLE.”

Things got adjacent alien astatine the Met. In 1988, Battle reportedly drove mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos to tears by repeatedly demanding staging changes that enactment Troyanos astatine a disadvantage. She was besides said to forbid radical astatine rehearsals from looking astatine her. In 1994, erstwhile Battle was accused of mistreating colleagues during rehearsals for The Daughter of the Regiment, wide manager Joseph Volpe fired her and canceled her aboriginal engagements. Reportedly, erstwhile the formed was told, they applauded. Battle disputed the characterization, saying she had ne'er been told astir immoderate “unprofessional actions,” but the absorption from colleagues was hard to miss.

BEST SONGS: “O mio babbino caro,” “Ach, ich fühl’s,” “Rejoice Greatly”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: Battle erstwhile pulled out of a Vienna Philharmonic performance conscionable 3 hours earlier curtain, forcing the orchestra to cancel the full show — reportedly the lone clip successful its past that had happened.

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11 Musicians Who Were So Awful To Work With, Their Bandmates Still Talk About It

BEST SONGS: “Doo Wop (That Thing),” “Ex-Factor,” “Everything Is Everything”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: After an attempted Fugees reunion went badly, bandmate Pras Michel said, “Before I enactment with Lauryn Hill again, you person a amended accidental of seeing Osama Bin Laden and [George W.] Bush getting a latte.”

BEST SONGS: “West Side Story Medley,” “Channel One Suite,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: Berating trombonist Dave Panichi for having a beard, and giving him 2 weeks to determine if helium wants “a beard oregon a job."

BEST SONGS: “I’ll Be Missing You,” “It’s All About the Benjamins,” “Bad Boy for Life”

BEST SONGS: “Be My Baby,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” “River Deep – Mountain High”

BEST SONGS: “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” “November Rain”

BEST SONGS: “Violet,” “Doll Parts,” “Celebrity Skin”

BEST SONGS: "Eight Miles High," "Wooden Ships," "Guinnevere"

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: Claiming publically helium was kicked retired of the Byrds due to the fact that they were prudes who didn't similar his opus Triad (about a threesome), and not due to the fact that of his obnoxious behavior.

BEST SONGS: “Once successful a Lifetime,” “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody),” “Psycho Killer”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: Telling a paper that Talking Heads had breached up earlier really telling the different 3 Talking Heads.

BEST SONGS: “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” “I Got You (I Feel Good),” “The Payback”

BEST SONGS: “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” “How Soon Is Now?,” “Everyday Is Like Sunday”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: After Mike Joyce successfully sued for a fairer stock of the Smiths’ royalties, the justice successful the lawsuit described Morrissey arsenic “devious, truculent and unreliable wherever his ain interests were astatine stake.”

BEST SONGS: “O mio babbino caro,” “Ach, ich fühl’s,” “Rejoice Greatly”

BIGGEST ASSHOLE MOMENT: Battle erstwhile pulled out of a Vienna Philharmonic performance conscionable 3 hours earlier curtain, forcing the orchestra to cancel the full show — reportedly the lone clip successful its past that had happened.

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