The Messiest Band Breakups In History

Over the course of five decades, Fleetwood Mac has held a rotating lineup of band members. Still, whether initiated by substance problems, infidelity among married members or partners within the group, the desire to create solo careers, or a random decision to join a Christian cult, the band somehow always managed to rekindle their bonds to create rock music that would win over multiple generations of fans. 

In fact, Fleetwood Mac produced the 1977 album they would be most famously known for, Rumours, while most of its members were in the midst of romantic breakups. Married band members Christine and John McVie started recording the album on the brink of divorce, and Christine started openly having a relationship with the band's lighting director.

Perhaps most notoriously, longtime partners Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham had a volatile breakup and penned songs about each other on the album (like “Dreams” and “Go Your Own Way”). Meanwhile, Mick Fleetwood learned of an affair between his wife and his friend, which eventually prompted him to have his own affair with Nicks.

The Rumours lineup gradually exited over disagreements, to pursue solo ventures, and to remedy substance issues. But while the contentious exes Nicks and Buckingham reached somewhat of a truce in the '90s and continued performing together, Buckingham sued the band after the other members fired him in 2018. 

While court findings and subsequent awards weren't made public knowledge, Buckingham's charges against his bandmates included “breach of fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage." According to Rolling Stone, the 2018 conflict stemmed from Buckingham “smirking” as Nicks gave a long-winded speech on stage, prompting Nicks to drop a “him or me” ultimatum.

Fleetwood Mac never formally announced that they had dissolved the group, but longtime member Christine McVie told Rolling Stone in 2022 that they had parted ways after their 2018 tour. McVie suddenly passed later that year, causing the remaining former bandmates to deem a reunion tour “unthinkable.”

Van Halen has formally fissured three times. According to Eddie Van Halen, the members never really got along.

The first breakup happened in 1984 at the height of the band's success, when members accused David Lee Roth of being more interested in a solo career and his film pursuits than what was good for Van Halen as a group. In a highly public 1985 breakup note featured in Rolling Stone, Eddie Van Halen explained: 

The band as you know it is over… Dave left to be a movie star. He even had the balls to ask if I’d write the score for him. I’m looking for a new lead singer. It’s weird that it’s over. Twelve years of my life putting up with his bullsh*t.

Though the rest of the band remained an outwardly cohesive unit, they continued to disagree and often fought despite Roth's departure. The second fallout occurred in 1996, when the creators of Twister approached the band to add a song to the film's soundtrack. Though rumors suggested this feud led Sammy Hagar (Roth's replacement) to leave the group, Hagar insisted that the Van Halen brothers fired him: 

I was told that I quit by Eddie. It was Father’s Day, Sunday morning, 9 am. The phone rings and I’m laying there with my brand-new baby. He goes, “You know, you always just wanted to be a solo artist, so go ahead and be one.”

When the band reunited for a tour in 2004, the Van Halen brothers hoped they could put aside their differences with Hagar for the sake of their fans. Unfortunately, Eddie Van Halen wasn't sober and started a fight with Hagar backstage. As Hagar rolled up his sleeve to display his new Cabo Wabo tequila endorsement tattoo, an outraged Eddie rolled it back down, arguing that the Van Halen tattoo on his arm would “last longer.” In his memoir, Red Rocker, Hagar recounted: 

It was the worst show we’d ever done in our lives. Eddie played so bad…They tell me he pulled some crazy sh*t on the plane home. My man was completely gone and out of it.

Despite their differences, Hagar said he and Eddie managed to patch things up before the latter's passing in 2020.

When the 1976 album Hotel California propelled The Eagles to fame, the group struggled to keep up with high-demand pressures the industry placed on them as they worked to create a follow-up album. 

Bandmates Don Felder and Glenn Frey grew irritable with each other, and their anger reached a turning point live onstage during a performance endorsing US Sen. Alan Cranston in 1980. When Cranston greeted the group backstage to thank them for showing up, Felder reportedly responded, “You're welcome, Senator… I guess.” From there, Frey recalled: 

I felt Don Felder insulted Sen. Cranston under his breath, and I confronted him with it. So now we're onstage, and Felder looks back at me and says, “Only three more songs till I kick your *ss, pal.” And I'm saying, “Great. I can't wait…” We're out there singing “Best of My Love,” but inside both of us are thinking, “As soon as this is over, I'm gonna kill him.” That was when I knew I had to get out.

The group finally put aside their differences and reunited for a 1993 tour, aptly named Hell Freezes Over, and remained a group until they fired Felder in 2001. After Frey's passing in 2016, the remaining members asked his son, Deacon, to replace him in the group. 

Upon meeting as music-loving 11-year-olds at their elementary school in Queens, NY, Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon became instant friends. However, after years of harmonizing together as teens, their business partnership began to splinter almost as soon as their first record hit No. 49 on the music charts. When Big Records manager Sid Prosen asked if they had any more songs to use as follow-up singles, Simon recorded and submitted solo tracks to the manager without talking it over with his partner. 

This move set the tone for their entire career as a cohesive act, as Garfunkel recalled:

He made a record without telling me… That was 1956, maybe 1957. He was my best friend and I thought friendship involves candor and telling a friend what’s up, so the fact that he had a hidden surprise shocked and hurt me.  

Though the duo parted ways, they eventually made amends and came together to record some of their most popular songs, including “Cecilia,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “I Am a Rock,” “America,” and “The Only Living Boy in New York.” 

While the two remained amicable in public, jealousy and resentment tore apart their friendship offstage. With Garfunkel singing most of the vocals, Simon was jealous that his friend was most likely seen as the frontman and songwriter for the band by their fans. Because Simon wrote most of the songs, Garfunkel was envious of his creative stronghold on the band's lyrical narrative. 

Though they never announced a formal split, Simon and Garfunkel played their last two concerts together in their hometown at Forest Hills Stadium in 1970. 

According to Simon, Garfunkel's prioritization of an acting gig over recording was the straw that broke the camel's back: 

With Artie, there was no reason to talk about it. When he agreed to make Carnal Knowledge [1971], something was broken between us. There was no way I was going to change my mind, and I certainly didn’t want to get into a fight about it. I just wanted to move on. We were finished.

Though the pair reunited for performances in the decades following, old tensions resurfaced each time. In 2016, Simon appeared to quash any future hope of a reunion, saying, “I mean, quite honestly, we don’t get along. So it’s not like it’s fun.”

When the Beach Boys released their 1966 album Pet Sounds, they were already well recognized and loved in the music industry. Brian Wilson created most of the songs on the album while he was suffering from mental illness induced by LSD, so the tracks were personal to him. Reportedly, his cousin and band co-founder Mike Love wasn't a fan of the lyrics, believing they sounded too much like someone on an acid trip. By the time the group reconvened to record their subsequent album, Smile, there was so much animosity between the bandmates that the project was dropped. (Wilson eventually revisited the endeavor and released the album in 2004.)

Since then, Love and Wilson have engaged in a public feud, releasing snarky remarks to the press and fighting over music royalties in courtrooms. Possibly because of Wilson's struggles with dependency, Love ended up with the rights to the Beach Boys's band name in 1991.

After an unsuccessful attempt at rekindling the band in 2012, the remaining living members, Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, and David Marks, toured together as a group, while Love toured by himself using the famous name for his headlines. 

The group came together once again to perform as a single unit in 2018, but the good vibrations didn't last long. In 2022, the members again parted ways when Love used the Beach Boys name for a concert at the Safari Club International Convention - a group Wilson vehemently opposed. 

Despite their overwhelming popularity, Guns N' Roses were a band for a relatively short period of time. As they made a name for themselves in the 1980s and early 1990s, behind-the-scenes tensions between Axl Rose and Slash continued to test the bandmates' patience. 

Rose, who considered himself the frontrunner and leader of the band, petitioned to gain complete control over the group's name and regularly spoke out against the actions of other members. As the lead singer continued to delay live performances, Slash and his bandmates grew concerned that their lack of punctuality would negatively affect concert attendance and fan approval. 

The feud between Rose and Slash came to a head in 1991, when Slash went behind Rose's back to record “Morphine” and “Give It to Me” with Michael Jackson. In addition to being adamant that bandmates not break out for projects with other artists, Rose had been abused as a child and believed the allegations of abuse against Jackson at the time. Ultimately, Slash's decision caused the band to split.