20 Bad Band Breakups
The Beatles
Things got ugly when everyone blamed Yoko for the Beatles breakup, but it's clear to anyone that the Beatles ended on a high note, preserving their legacy forever. (Photo by John Pratt/Keystone/Getty Images)
The Beatles | 20 Bad Band Breakups | Comcast.net Music
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The Beatles Things got ugly when everyone blamed Yoko for the Beatles breakup, but it's clear to anyone that the Beatles ended on a high note, preserving their legacy forever. (Photo by John Pratt/Keystone/Getty Images)
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Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac wrote the book on bitter breakups. The drugs and affairs that wracked the band did help them produce their masterpiece, 'Rumours.'(AP Photo/handout)
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Guns 'N Roses Guns 'N Roses embodied the best and worst of the hair metal phenomenon. Ultimately, ego and excess proved too much, and the original lineup abandoned Axl in 1994. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
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The Supremes 'Dreamgirls' sugarcoated the Supremes riches-to-rags story. Founding member Florence Ballard died penniless as Diana Ross's solo career took off.(Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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Sex Pistols Malcolm McLaren's malcontents met their end during a particularly awful show in San Francisco in 1978 after covering the Stooges' classic, 'No Fun.' (Photo by Graham Wood/Evening Standard/Getty Images)
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Talking Heads An aloof David Byrne left the band in limbo as he pursued his solo career. He was reportedly miffed when his bandmates reunited as the Heads. (AP Photo)
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The Clash Punk legends the Clash lost a war of attrition to drugs and disagreements. Joe Strummer retired the Clash in 1985.(Photo by Unimedia/Getty Images)
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Pink Floyd Pink Floyd lost Syd Barrett to mental illness in 1968, but it wasn't until 1985 that creative differences drove them apart for good. (AP Photo)
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No Doubt They may feel hella good now that they're reunited, but No Doubt's hiatus was the direct result of Gwen Stefani cashing in her cache and going solo. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Rebel Waltz)
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Blondie Jealousy tore Blondie apart. The band broke up in 1982, but there was still bad blood at their induction ceremony in 2006. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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The Kinks The Kinks slowly deteriorated after Peter Quaife left the band in 1969. By the early '80s, Dave Davies drove drummer Mick Avory out of the band. Sibling rivalry took care of the rest. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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The Mamas & the ... Internal turmoil, fueled largely by a love triangle between members John Phillips his wife Michelle, and Denny Doherty, as well as the toll taken by drugs and alcohol drove the band apart in just three years.(Photo by Wood/Getty Images)
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Boston Boston's tortured genius Tom Scholz so belabored the recording process that his bandmates released music without him. Lawsuits ensued, and the once promising band was finished. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
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Eagles Laurel Canyon folkies Eagles were casualties of the ego + excess rock cliche. The band nearly came to blows onstage during a concert in 1980.(Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)
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Smashing Pumpkin... Billy Corgan broke the band up in 2000, but do you ever get the feeling his bandmates were happy he did? (AP Photo/Virgin Records)
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Van Halen Van Halen never really broke up, but the Van Halen brothers have made things very uncomfortable for their lead singers, starting with David Lee Roth. Bassist Michael Anthony has also been tossed from the band. (AP Photo)
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Creedence Clearw... CCR started to crumble when John Fogerty's grip on songwriting and the business of the band were brought into question. Fogerty thought democracy would hurt the band. His brother quit the band and things deteriorated from there. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images)
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The Smiths So many of the bands listed here broke up because drugs drove them apart. The Smiths broke up for artistic differences between monomaniacal frontman Morrissey and his guitarist Johnny Marr.
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The Pixies Frank Black pulled the plug on the Pixies just before they became the Next Big Thing. Black was so disgusted with his bandmates that he notified them of the breakup by fax! (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
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Soundgarden Grunge greats Soundgarden fell on black days late in 1997, after artistic differences and the constant grind of touring got to be too much to bear.(Photo by Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images)
