# What music act ended up being the biggest “sellout”? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2019, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859 "2019-11-23T05:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/1 "2019-11-23T05:38:18Z")
First I don’t necessarily mean this in a bad way. Looking for an artist or band however that made the biggest career left turn in music style for the sole reason of selling records. Not necessarily looking for one-off “larks” like Cyndi Lauper doing a country album or Snoop Dogg doing reggae. My favorite example is punk rocker Billy Idol of Generation X within a few years re-packaged as a teen idol singing pop songs. Don’t get me wrong, his songs were great and I even saw him in concert, but he would have never sold as many records fronting a punk band, there’s no question he reinvented himself to sell records. For better or worse, who are the biggest sellouts in music history? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/2 "2019-11-23T05:42:02Z")
When Metallica became Hard Rockica. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/3 "2019-11-23T06:25:13Z")
Sonny Bono didn’t have that far to fall, and was a phony hippie/establishment shill from the get-go, but he did start out singing about peace, love and groovy, and he did end up as a Republican congressman. He gets my vote…for this. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/4 "2019-11-23T06:35:04Z")
I came in to say Metallica, but of course that was answered in the first response. My next thought is Genesis. They started out making some of the best progressive rock the world has ever seen, and morphed into a Top 40 machine. They don’t fit the criteria perfectly, though, as there wasn’t a sharp left turn. The change was gradual, over a few albums. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/5 "2019-11-23T06:46:26Z")
Life cycle: 1. Strive. 2. Succeed. 3. Sell out. 4. Retire. I wish that had worked for me. But per the thread, I’ll propose Bing Crosby, who went from hot jazz improviser to staid senior sellout. Yawn along with Der Bingle. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/6 "2019-11-23T07:05:19Z")
Two albums that, IIRC, their respective artists mentioned were an attempt at mainstream success after being underground for long enough: _Liz Phair_ by Liz Phair _Love You to Death_ by Tegan and Sara I haven’t heard the former, although I wasn’t as repulsed by the lead single as some people in my social circle seemed to be at the time. (It probably didn’t hurt that I unironically liked Avril Lavigne.) I wasn’t a big fan of the latter, but it’s not like they came into my house and burned my copies of _The Con_ and _Sainthood_. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/7 "2019-11-23T07:40:23Z")
Not even Metallica can top the journey made by Jefferson Airplane in order to become Starship. In time, Grace Slick let her hair go naturally white, cut it very short, and recently had her 80th birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/8 "2019-11-23T08:00:51Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I came in to say Metallica, but of course that was answered in the first response. > > My next thought is Genesis. They started out making some of the best progressive rock the world has ever seen, and morphed into a Top 40 machine. They don’t fit the criteria perfectly, though, as there wasn’t a sharp left turn. The change was gradual, over a few albums. I’m not as up on their history as I should be, but didn’t their shift from progressive to pop coincide with Peter Gabriel’s departure and Phil Collins’s ascent? Was that gradual, or kind of sudden? ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/9 "2019-11-23T12:03:37Z")
**Aerosmith** : Starting with _Permanent Vacation_ in 1987, outsider writers (e.g., Desmond Child, Jim Vallance) were brought in as they transitioned to a more heavily-produced pop-rock sound. It worked. While their prior two albums went Gold, _Permanent Vacation_ went 5X Platinum. The next two (\*Pump \*and _Get a Grip_) both went 7X platinum. But the sound and quality were a far cry from _Toys in the Attic_. **Heart** : similar story. All the singles on their eponymous 1985 album - ‘What About Love’, ‘Never’, ‘These Dreams’, and ‘Nothing at All’ - were penned by outside writers. After their prior two albums failed to reach Gold status, \*Heart \*went 5X Platinum. Their next two albums _Bad Animals_ and \*Brigade \*went triple and double Platinum, respectively. **Chicago** : it took a while, but the addition of Peter Cetera preceded a long slide toward a slicker, poppier sound. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/10 "2019-11-23T13:06:29Z")
**Chicago** : it took a while, but the addition of Peter Cetera preceded a long slide toward a slicker, poppier sound. [/QUOTE] Peter Cetera was around from the beginning. I see David Foster as the cause of the slide - focusing on Peter Cetera and the slicker, poppier sound. Another one is Cheap Trick who went from Dream Police to The Flame. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/11 "2019-11-23T13:50:39Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > I’m not as up on their history as I should be, but didn’t their shift from progressive to pop coincide with Peter Gabriel’s departure and Phil Collins’s ascent? Was that gradual, or kind of sudden? That would be true, if Gabriel’s solo work in the 80s and 90s weren’t so radio-friendly (or more accurately, MTV-friendly) too. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/12 "2019-11-23T14:00:33Z")
The Who. They go from a 1960s album of fake commercials, to selling their music for actual commercials currently. Really, any anti-establishment rockers that sell their music for commercials - the Stones, the Kinks, Iggy pop, you name it. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/13 "2019-11-23T14:34:00Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > I’m not as up on their history as I should be, but didn’t their shift from progressive to pop coincide with Peter Gabriel’s departure and Phil Collins’s ascent? Was that gradual, or kind of sudden? I would say it coincided more with the departure of Steve Hackett than Peter Gabriel. After Gabriel left they still put out a couple of proggy albums, but “And Then There Were Three” was an album full of short-ish, more pop-sounding songs. My submission for the thread would be **Journey**. Started out as a pretty decent Santana clone but then Steve Perry joined… ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/14 "2019-11-23T15:01:10Z")
I add Ozzy Osbourne to the list of biggest “sellouts” in music history. Not for a change in musical styles though for becoming a joke and a punchline for doing the reality show _The Osbournes_. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/15 "2019-11-23T16:44:47Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Life cycle: > > 1. Strive. > 2. Succeed. > 3. Sell out. > 4. Retire. > > I wish that had worked for me. Were you a popular musician at one time? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/16 "2019-11-23T17:07:36Z")
Roxy Music - who began as the very spirit of the avant-garde. Eric Clapton - from blues wizard to just bland mainstream pop. Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne - I mean, The Move were always pop, but all I’ve seen of Wood in decades is a seasonal reappearance of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. And the Electric Light Orchestra started off much as the name suggests, before morphing into a pop machine. Also, I don’t know a lot about him, but didn’t Garth Brooks have the reputation of being a rather rootsy act before morphing into a Country Superstar? j ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/17 "2019-11-23T17:36:30Z")
**Sonic Youth’s** early albums were avant-garde/no wave, and full of wonderful noise. Starting with the album Goo, their music became more “pop.” **Michael Bolton** was a [rock](https://youtu.be/X1hbB-GWC84?t=92) [singer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_reU5lasQ) before he “sold out” and sang adult contemporary/easy listening songs. **Belinda Carlisle** (Go-Go’s fame) played hardcore punk in the late 1970s, and was briefly a member of The Germs. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/18 "2019-11-23T17:45:11Z")
Is KISS the wrong answer here? I guess they were designed to sell out in the first place, or where they ever pretending to be a real band that has artistic value? I mention them because they sell just about every kind of licensed item you can imagine and will do almost anything to sell themselves out to anything. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/19 "2019-11-23T18:26:41Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Were you a popular musician at one time? Musician, yes; popular, not so much. I left a genre-busting band a few months before their huge yet brief success. Avoiding the maelstrom probably increased my lifespan. On-topic, I’ll point to Elvis as an incandescent starburst tamed by his manager to produce profitable schlock. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859/20 "2019-11-23T19:34:41Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > **Chicago** : it took a while, but the addition of Peter Cetera preceded a long slide toward a slicker, poppier sound. > > Peter Cetera was around from the beginning. I see David Foster as the cause of the slide - focusing on Peter Cetera and the slicker, poppier sound. > > Another one is Cheap Trick who went from Dream Police to The Flame. In spite of being a big Cheap Trick fan, I can’t argue with you. Even CT themselves weren’t too happy with “The Flame” (at the time of the album’s release). And it put them on the road to albums like _ **Special One** _, where the first side is basically ballads and the second side is decent rock more similar to their early albums like _ **In Color** _. Of course, they’ve always been the American Beatles. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-act-ended-up-being-the-biggest-sellout/843859.md?page=2)