John Phillips of Mommas and Poppas fame being kindly rescued by estranged wife Michelle as he incoherently rambles ina drug induced haze on television.
Arthur Lee of Love sentenced to jail under California’s “3 strikes” law after firing a gun in the air during an argument with neighbors.
Drunk as a skink? Hee hee hee hee.
His whole career, up to and including his funeral, was a meltdown.
Bonnie Sheridan, FTR.
I also wondered why they included the Rod Stewart UL. How is something that didn’t happen a meltdown, or bizarre or whatever? You might as well call the Marilyn-Manson-is-Paul-from-the-Wonder-Years rumor a meltdown.
John Belushi of that famous group The Blues Brothers died of acute cocaine and heroin intoxication.
The music will never be the same man!
E3 - trying to reach that elusive 1000 mark.
The infamous “Naked girl in a rug” (Marianne Faithful) drugbust in 1967 when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards actually did some jail time.
The whole Count Grishnackh murdering Euronymous thing.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed G.G. Allin’s conspicuous absence. sheesh. He deserves a category all his own.
The Pretenders, summer of 1982: In a few short months half of the band dies* and the singer gets pregnant.
*[sub]Yes, this is simplifying things. James Honeyman-Scott was fired in June over his heroin addiction but lived until 1983.[/sub]
Well none of these examples are strictly rock related, but for pop-related embarrassments, honorable mentions should be made for:
-Al & Tipper Gore dancing the macarena.
-Rob Lowe trying to sing on the Oscars.
-William Shatner’s singing career.
-the “Bride of Frankenstein” remake starring Sting.
-Lenny Kravitz & Lisa Bonet. No specific incident, the fact that they were who they were should be enough to castigate them.
Well none of these examples are strictly rock related, but for pop-related embarrassments, honorable mentions should be made for:
-Al & Tipper Gore dancing the macarena.
-Rob Lowe trying to sing on the Oscars.
-William Shatner’s singing career.
-the “Bride of Frankenstein” remake starring Sting.
-Lenny Kravitz & Lisa Bonet. No specific incident, the fact that they were who they were should be enough to castigate them.
The article itself was a waste. It had a few good anecdotes, but mainly it was just an opportunity for the author to say, “Look how cool I am! I’m making fun of Boston and Toto!”
Hey, look, love those bands or hate them, they were popular, they sold millions of records, and didn’t do anything to embarrass themselves. Unlike, say…
Chuck Berry. How can you not include his arrest for setting up video cameras in the ladies’ room of his night club, so he could watch women tinkle?
Paul McCartney. I mean, if David Lee Roth’s pot bust belongs on the list, why not Paul’s famous adventure in Japan?
Bruce Springsteen. He had a MAJOR meltdown, hauling ex-girlfriend Lynne Goldsmith up on stage during a show, and berating her bitterly on stage. I’ve long suspected that Bruce has a creepy side that the press would rather not deal with. The absence of this incident on the list just confirms my suspicions.
Billy Joel. Just recently, in New York, it was painfully obvious that he was drunk, stoned or both in his concert with Elton John. Elton had to use every trick in the book to cover for Billy (including dancing with him), but it wasn’t enough.
Marilyn Manson. In the middle of an on-stage soliloquy about how much he loves pain, Marilyn was hit in the head by a bottle, thrown from the audience. Suddenly, he forget how much he allegedly loved pain, and started ranting, raving and blubbering like a baby.
Bjork was in fact going after a paparazzi photographer who refused to stop taking pictures of Bjorks baby after Bjork had asked him to do so 5 or 6 times. the altercation happened in an airport.
I can see it now:
“Hey, WAIT! I love YOUR pain, NOT mine! YOUR pain! Jesus Christ, you ill-mannered Visigoths! What the hell is wrong with you?”
Hmm, not exactly, at least according to Salon.com
Even considering he circumstances, it was not a shining moment for Bjork, I’m sure. That’s what bodyguards are supposed to be good for, beating the hell out of people that annoy you. An artiste should never soil their hands in such a manner.
By the way, here’s a link to VH-1’s 100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock ‘N’ Roll. Lot’s of crossover material, here. Plus gems like Gary Glitter’s child pornography bust, and Michael Hutchence’s ignominious end.
The King himself, he wasn’t a quitter.
Elvis left the building and died on the shitter? :eek:
Reminds of a bit I heard from a stand-up comic recently.
Sam Cooke had a less than dignifiable demise:
Jerry Lee Lewis had a pretty rough spot in his career:
His career continued to spiral downward until 1969 when he started making C&W songs.
The multiple drug busts, incarcerations, involuntary mental hospitalizations, a long-term unexplained disappearance, and a homicide that repeatedly destroyed (overwhelming repeated reorganization & comeback attempts) Roky Erickson & the 13th Floor Elevators, '66 - '78 or so.
Something similar happened with some of the members of Love, albeit not quite as harshly (hey, they were in California, whereas the Elevators had to deal with the authorities in Texas, Alabama, etc.).
XTC’s frontman Andy Partridge having a panic attack and running off the stage in France in 1982 [3?], on the tour supporting English Settlement, in the moment of the band’s peak popularity.
Kevin Gilbert’s [see Sheryl Crow, backing musicians] death by autoerotic asphyxiation a few years back.