Richard Patrick vs Trent Reznor – Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails’s music revolves around Trent Reznor. While he has used various session musicians across every album, Reznor’s central vision for every record has been intact from the moment he started performing, delivering a cinematic musical experience unlike any other industrial act that came before. Although Richard Patrick was one of the many musicians he had worked with, one wrong answer made him ditch the group.
After completing work on the album Pretty Hate Machine, Patrick went out on the road with Reznor only to find out that he didn’t have enough money to support himself. Rather than discuss his future, Reznor suggested that Patrick look for other work when he wasn’t with the band, saying he would be better off delivering pizzas when he wasn’t needed.
Though Patrick would initially roll over, he drew the line when Reznor wanted to use one of his songs, quitting the band altogether and forming Filter. While Patrick would find his success after the fact, Reznor did eventually get back at his bandmate by spewing venom at him on The Downward Spiral track ‘Piggy’.
Axl Rose vs Slash – Guns N’ Roses
From day one, Guns N’ Roses never seemed to care about anyone’s feelings. Known as one of the most dangerous acts to come out of Los Angeles, the band followed the same tradition as acts like The Rolling Stones, making music intended to be from the wrong side of the tracks. While every member had their vices, Axl Rose overstepped his bounds when the band opened up for their idols.
Leading up to their opening shows for The Stones, Slash was not taking care of himself, doping himself on heroin, which inspired ‘Mr Brownstone’. Although Rose was fine as long as the guitarist showed up, it was the last straw when he saw Slash showing up to the next show strung out and dope sick.
Instead of discussing the matters in private, Rose gave an ultimatum to Slash from the stage, saying that the band would be history if “certain” group members didn’t get their act together. Even though Rose and Slash have a more cordial relationship these days, it took years for the guitarist to forgive Rose for his comments.
John Frusciante vs Anthony Kiedis – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Not everyone is equipped for the massive success of being a rock star. Most of the time, artists want to play music for anyone who will hear it, only to find themselves flooded with media coverage they didn’t need. That kind of pressure began to get to John Frusciante, and the massive success of Red Hot Chili Peppers became too much when performing on Saturday Night Live.
Having been hooked on heroin while on the road, Frusciante started experimenting with ‘Under the Bridge’ on live television, taking the iconic intro and bending it into an out-of-tune experiment before attempting to play the main riff. From the footage, it’s easy to see how uncomfortable Anthony Kiedis looks, not knowing what key Frusciante will change to and getting increasingly dishevelled as the group continues to play.
That episode would only begin Frusciante’s spiral, sinking even further into addiction before quitting the band minutes before taking the stage in Japan. Although Frusciante would make it to the other side in one piece in the late 1990s, his eventual dismissal cast a dark shadow around where Red Hot Chili Peppers would end up in the next few years.
Franz Stahl vs Dave Grohl – Foo Fighters
Every band has to endure a certain amount of growing pains when starting. Although most artists might work those pains out of their system while still underground, Foo Fighters had to deal with those issues in public, with every band member having their own set of issues with Dave Grohl. Once they thought they had a stable lineup during the tour for The Colour and the Shape, Franz Stahl was dealt the shock of a lifetime with a phone call.
Replacing original guitar Pat Smear, Stahl was the perfect foil on the road, fitting like a glove when playing the songs and having a shared history with Grohl thanks to his work in the pre-Nirvana band Scream. When it came time to write, though, Stahl would come up short, with Grohl thinking that it never gelled properly between the band members when they tried to write together.
While Grohl had problems asking Stahl to leave the band, he preferred to have the dirty work done by someone else, breaking up with Stahl over a conference call and completing the next album, There is Nothing Left to Lose, as a trio. Foo Fighters might seem like the greatest gig in the world, but it’s never easy to find a handful of people with the same chemistry live and in the studio.
Stevie Nicks vs Lindsey Buckingham – Fleetwood Mac
The animosity between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac was immediate when they began making Rumours. Although Buckingham had insisted that Nicks join the group when he became a part of the band, their dissolving relationship made for open hostility whenever they sat behind the microphone. While petty arguments can get tough, Buckingham made his thoughts about their relationship abundantly clear when working on ‘Go Your Own Way’.
Despite sounding like AM radio heaven, Buckingham wrote about what he felt about Nicks, saying he wants to give her love, but she’s unwilling to take it from him. When working on the song, Buckingham didn’t bother to sing the finished lyrics to the band, thinking Nicks would resent him when she had to sing.
While there is some thinly veiled animosity across the song, the open insult of Nicks only wanting to shack up with everyone she finds becomes more uncomfortable when you learn what it’s about. Musicians might try to keep things professional in such situations, but Nicks’ ire was perfectly reasonable.
Jason Newsted vs Lars Ulrich – Metallica
Every new band member usually has a breaking-in period before they get off the ground. While it’s never exactly fair, the amount of baggage new recruits have to plough through is usually too much for anyone to face, especially when the audience compares them to their predecessors. Since Metallica were still reeling from the death of Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted didn’t have a prayer of getting treated nicely.
Throughout the first few years on the road, Newsted was treated like a second-rate musician compared to the other band members, often being ignored or treated as a makeshift punching bag during their off hours. While Newsted had great energy onstage and on the record, the band didn’t even let him flaunt his skills when it came time to break him into the studio environment.
As a cruel joke, Lars Ulrich initially had the idea to turn the bass down when mixing the album And Justice For All, making for an in-your-face sound that features no Newsted throughout most of the runtime. Any band can have more than a few pent-up aggressions in their ranks, but it takes a special kind of hatred not even to let the new member play on the record at all.
Don Felder vs Don Henley – Eagles
The Eagles made a name for themselves as a vocal group. Throughout every iteration of their career, the biggest draw of the band has been the various harmony parts, sounding like a mix between The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and the immaculate sounds of country music all in one. Though Don Henley may have been the de facto mouthpiece of the band, Don Felder was practically blocked out of the room when making Hotel California.
After trying his hand at harmony singing on the previous albums, Felder thought he deserved to sing one song on the new record, writing the basic track for ‘Victim of Love’. Since the rest of the band wanted to make the album generation defining, they weren’t about to let any subpar vocal performance get in the way of their success.
While the band let Felder sing the song once, they quietly convinced manager Irving Azoff to take him out to dinner midway through the sessions, after which they put Henley’s lead vocal on the song instead. Even though it’s hard to argue with anyone’s vocals in the Eagles compared to Don Henley, Felder never recovered from that wound, eventually disbanding the band after a massive fight onstage with Glenn Frey in 1980.
Noel Gallagher vs Liam Gallagher – Oasis
Any textbook definition that breaks down the rivalry between band members may as well have a picture of Oasis next to it. Although the band may have signalled the Britpop revolution in the ’90s, the growing tension between Noel and Liam Gallagher was palpable early on, constantly in danger of breaking up at all times. Although Noel would make his point on various occasions, Liam decided to hit below the belt when the band were set to appear on MTV Unplugged.
Featuring a stripped-down performance, Liam was going through different vocal setbacks leading up to the show, only getting through a handful of songs in rehearsal before bailing. While the rest of the band was ensured that Liam could do the gig, the frontman would later say that he wouldn’t be performing only minutes before going onstage, leaving Noel to stand onstage with the rest of the band and perform as the frontman by himself.
Though it would make sense for Liam to rest his vocal cords throughout the evening, he would later be seen in the footage from that night sitting in the nosebleed seats, having a few drinks and heckling his brother from the audience whenever he had the chance. Liam may have let down fans who expected to hear his vocals that night, but it may all be worth it if it meant getting back at his brother.
Richard Wright vs Roger Waters – Pink Floyd
Throughout the late ’60s, the power dynamic in Pink Floyd started becoming more fluid. Although Syd Barrett may have steered the ship in the band’s early days, it was only a matter of time before Roger Waters had to take over, with Barrett slowly losing his battle with mental health problems. While Waters may have emerged as the musical visionary in the band, the road to making The Wall saw him stomping on every single member of the band.
Since the album’s story was loosely based on experiences that Waters had at school, he wasn’t going to settle for anything less than the sound he heard in his head. When pianist Richard Wright couldn’t understand what the songs needed, Waters figured the band didn’t need him anyway, quietly firing Wright halfway through production only to rehire him in the group after the fact.
Even though Wright could still contribute various parts to The Wall, he would only be treated like a session musician throughout the production, eventually being given a lower fee and fewer royalties for what he brought to the album. While Wright got his fair share of recognition after Waters left the fold, it seemed like the bandleader’s emotional toll of being in a band wasn’t all that important.
Pete Best vs The Beatles – The Beatles
Nobody has achieved the level of mass adulation The Beatles had in their prime. Whether it was their experimental period or their time as one of the biggest teenybopper bands in the world in the early ’60s, the Fab Four were indispensable from one another, creating massive hysteria wherever they went. Although every Beatles fanatic could name every band member, Pete Best got passed over right as the band were about to break.
Having finally gotten a record deal with Parlophone Records, the band did their showcase for producer George Martin, only to hit trouble when recording the drums. Thinking that Best wasn’t cutting it in the studio, Martin suggested hiring a session drummer before The Beatles ditched Best for Ringo Starr, who brought an amazing sense of flow to their covers and original material.
While the band knew that Best wasn’t good enough, none of them could break the news themselves, leaving manager Brian Epstein to call Best into his office to do the deed quietly. Even though Best may not harbour as much resentment for his role in history, it must sting to miss out on the chance to become a member of one of the most celebrated acts in the world.