Musicians you idolised as a teen who turned out to be dickheads

[Idaho]

Who expects them to have a "complete, cohesive and fully vetted set of opinions on everything"? What I expect from public figures is a bit of circumspection about their prejudices. It's not a lot to ask.

History would suggest that such circumspection is rare.

 

[Meh O'Naise]

I loved Ginger out of the Wildhearts as a teenager, and a few years later came across an email address for him. So i emailed him a question, and got a really surprisingly vehement, nasty, aggressive and expletive filled reply from him.

Yep, I'd agree with this about Ginger. I've met him a couple of times, and whilst relatively polite, everything I've heard about him since makes me think he'd quite happily do only what is right for him, and fuck anyone else.

Ricky Warwick - Idolised him as a teen, now I've met him a couple of times and I have come away very, very disappointed about him. I've a lot lot more time for Floyd, the bass player of the Almighty. The stories I've heard have been less than flattering. love his music.

Casey Chaos - a total user of people who will abandon anyone the second they query or call him out on anything. Massive egomaniac. A man so *real* he expects everyone else to subsidize his punk rock revolution with their own poverty, whilst talking the talk but forgetting his own band members have bills to pay. Ever wonder why the line up changes all the time? There you go. Total pond life scum. I expect him to flame me from this post, find out my home address, fly from LA, and break into my house to scratch all my Amen CDs with his own excrement to keep it real, such is his commitment to image.

Ozzy - again, idolised him as a teen. Lost any and all respect I could have for him after he refused to pay royalties to Bob Daisley and Tommy Aldridge for their performances on Diary of A Madman / Blizzard of Ozz. Solution? get his then current bass player and rummer to re-record over the originals, and delete the originals so a 1981 album now featured parts recorded from a totally different line up 21 years later. Incredibly, incredibly petty. (Also see how he fucked over Phil Soussain on writing credits for "Shot In The Dark", which is why that song never appears on any best ofs and all the live albums featuring it are deleted).

Jaymz & Larz of Metallica - to me, Kirk is a quisling who does what he is told, knowing he'll never be in a band anywhere near as successful or popular and will roll over for a quiet life. Newstead was the breathing, pumping heart of that band, and he quit. Jaymz is also incredibly false - all his stage raps are tedious , repetitive, new age bollocks. Embraces everyone as part of the "Metallica family", endlessly asks everyoen "Are you feeling alive out there?" and has replaced his own actual personality with a false onstage construct, a construct that is an LA hippy whose prozac is finally working. False and shallow.

Al Jourgensen - there's living life on the edge, and wilfully destroying yourself. He is the latter. Arrogant, ego-centric, self-obsessed to the point of narcissm.

I've heard other stories, but they are libellious to the point of ruin. Unrepeatable. Let me just say this - they are so bad, it'll make Jimmy Saville look like Nelson Mandela.

 

[maya]

I never really idolised him if truth be told, but I used to love Roxy Music and I wasn't aware of the extend of his twattishness then. Eno seems alright though (despite his support for the LibDems).

I sort of went off Eno a bit after hearing about the LibDems

 

[Reno]

I sort of went off Eno a bit after hearing about the LibDems

Same here. On the other hand he has one of he greatest collections of vintage porn in the world.

 

[maya]

Same here. On the other hand he has one of he greatest collections of vintage porn in the world.

I still try to un-see that pic of him smiling and licking that tiny action figure's tiny little penis... (!)

(*Search for 'Eno', 'p0rn' and 'Dangerous Minds', and i'm sure the photo in question will come up- The mind boggles... The 70s really were something else, weren't they? Not sure he'd got away with that now, tbh... )

 

[Chick Webb]

You hear him humming it when you're nearby?
I'd be a bit worried about what he thinks of you, Chick!!!

It was a female colleague actually. I heard her singing "The Chances of Anything Coming from Mars" the other day. That was cool. She just sings/hums mental tunes.

 

[Thimble Queen]

Ian Watkins, I thought he was fit. Now I want to scrub myself with bleach.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

An obvious one - Morrissey. I think I was still making excuses for his latest stupid outburst in my early 20s, but I've hated the guy for years at this stage. I don't feel much anymore when he comes out with his claptrap. There are still one or two of my old mates from my teen years who try to defend him.

I think it's easier to give up on someone you idolised when you were 16 than it is with someone you idolised when you were 12. I still have time for Dave Mustaine, and he's arguably way worse than Morrissey.

Never idolized any of them. Just listened to their music. And as a teenager, I never read their bios. I don't care if they watch 'One Day At A Time'.

 

[Chick Webb]

Ian Watkins, I thought he was fit. Now I want to scrub myself with bleach.

Ooh, who's that? This sounds like it might be similar to my feelings about Shane McGowan and Steve Earle.

 

[Chick Webb]

Never idolized any of them. Just listened to their music. And as a teenager, I never read their bios. I don't care if they watch 'One Day At A Time'.

You're a rare man, Johnny. Did you not idolise and obsess about the lives of artists you liked when you were young? I thought we all did that, but most of us grow out of it.

 

[scooter]

I think I've come to the conclusion that you have to completely separate the artist from the art they produce.

There's the example of Carlo Gesualdo, his wikipedia page begins;

Carlo Gesualdo, also known as Gesualdo da Venosa or Gesualdo di Venosa (Venosa, 8 March 1566 – Gesualdo, 8 September 1613), Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, was an Italian nobleman, lutenist, composer and murderer.

Murder is worse than anything listed in this thread so far and yet his music was way ahead of its time. If I can get over that then all the other stuff mentioned so far is small beer.

(He found his wife in bed with another man and killed them both)

 

[Thimble Queen]

Ooh, who's that? This sounds like it might be similar to my feelings about Shane McGowan and Steve Earle.

He's the guy from lost prophets.

 

[goldenecitrone]

I feel badly let down by Wham.

 

[twentythreedom]

Ian Watkins, I thought he was fit. Now I want to scrub myself with bleach.

H from Steps

 

[skyscraper101]

Slash. Used to idolise his level of cool, his guitar skills, and everything else he did with GNR. Also had a lot of respect for him holding out as long as he did while Axl went batshit and the band finally imploded.

These days he just indulges in being a caricature of himself, still wearing the sily top hats and serving up sub gnr new rock records that are stuck in another century. That cringe version of sweet child of mine with her from the black eyed peas at the superbowl was the end.

 

[Thimble Queen]

H from Steps

So unfortunate that he has the same name as an alleged peado.

 

[Chick Webb]

Murder is worse than anything listed in this thread so far

I think Varg Vikernes has been mentioned more than once.

 

[scooter]

I think Varg Vikernes has been mentioned more than once.

Ok but Gesualdo did two people - double homicide

 

[Chick Webb]

Ok but Gesualdo did two people - double homicide

Go him

 

[Chick Webb]

Jaymz & Larz of Metallica

The biggest shock about Metallica was James being a bigger prick than Lars. Who saw that coming?

 

[teahead]

Pete Doherty... although his producers were always out front about him being a twatty smackhead from the start (while he ponced around Hackney pubs with puppies in his pocketses )

All the same...

 

[Tom A]

Billy Bragg seems to have become more of a liberal this days compared to when he was putting out his classic stuff (especially with his 'positive patriotism' rhetoric). Although he did own up and acknowledge that supporting the Lib Dems was a massive mistake, and I still think he's more of a good guy than a bad one.

Seize the fucking Day When I was trying super hard to be a right-on radical in my uni days I went though a (mercifully short) phase of really being into them. Now I just think they are just cringeworthily pretentious, and a caricature of protest musicians.

Mr. Brett from Bad Religion. Stonking band back in the day, but he is a right arrogant tosser, makes quite a lot of money from the label he set up, illustrating the point where the alternative become mainstream.

 

[TruXta]

Everyone in Metallica, especially Lars but I reckon that was self evident for some time...

The first good one died, the second quit. (((bass players)))

 

[TruXta]

Pete Doherty... although his producers were always out front about him being a twatty smackhead from the start (while he ponced around Hackney pubs with puppies in his pocketses )

Wasn't just Hackney pubs. Twat. Useless no-talent twat at that.

 

[UrbaneFox]

I like musicians for their music. Why care what nonsense they spout about other things? Expecting all your media favourites to have a complete, cohesive and fully vetted set of opinions on everything is an annoying modern phenomenon. I wouldn't choose politicians based on their musical skills, or sportspeople on their charm.

When you were 16 it was different. I liked Rik on the Young Ones being so angry about something that he immediately wrote to the lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen.

I was a Bowie fan, but the final straw was him saying the Lord's Prayer on bended knee at Freddie Mercury's Wembley memorial.

 

[Gerry1time]

so *real* he expects everyone else to subsidize his punk rock revolution with their own poverty, whilst talking the talk but forgetting his own band members have bills to pay. Ever wonder why the line up changes all the time? There you go.

I've heard Alice Cooper does the same thing with his band too.

Continuing the theme, I once went to try and meet him outside the Wolverhampton Civic Hall when he played there, and it was almost comedic. There were a few us us hoping for an autograph out of vague interest, and the tour manager came out and said we could each give him one item to be signed, which he'd take on the bus and get signed from us. In return, we were to make no attempt to go near or talk to Mr Cooper when he came out of the bus. If we did, all the things we'd given him would be thrown away.

So we gave him our bits, and a few minutes later Alice Cooper was rushed out of the bus and into the venue, crouched down under a big jacket, surrounded by a group of personal security guards. Past us four or five bemused brummies who'd only turned up because we had nothing better to do anyway. The show hadn't sold out by quite a long way, and on seeing what a complete self important bellend the man was, we decided to abandon our plans to buy tickets and piss off to the pub instead.

 

[AverageJoe]

Ain't it great when people refer to themselves in the third person?

Average Joe agrees with this statement

 

[bamalama]

I've heard Alice Cooper does the same thing with his band too.

I've heard the same thing about Lee Perry

 

[AverageJoe]

Disappointed to hear about Kerry King from the might Slayer dicking over Dave Lombardo

 

[Casually Red]

when i was a kid i was mad into Gary Glitter . Hated the Bay city rollers with a passion but thought Gary...leader leader.. was ace .

bastard would have been more inot me than i was into him .

Suzy Quatro has yet to let me down though .