Top 10 Bands Who Hated Their Drummer

They were arguably the most important band in metal history, but also deeply dysfunctional. During the 70s, the other band members would frequently prank drummer Ward. This involved things like setting his beard on fire. He even almost died because of a prank in 1972, when the band spray-painted him gold. In 2011, they had serious drama after the band reunion. Ward was left out of their album, plus the subsequent tour. According to him, the contract offered was beyond unfair. According to Ozzy, he was too unhealthy to tour and Ward was just playing the victim. Ward agreed to play with the band one final time in 2025, implying the group has finally settled things.

Portnoy is potentially the most accomplished technical drummer in metal history. A co-founder of the prog metal band Dream Theater, Portnoy eventually left in 2010. Initially, the split seemed amicable, but it soon turned into drama. Portnoy claimed to want a break, but a few months later when he tried to return they ghosted him. Portnoy took it personally, and it caused a schism among the fanbase. One time, a fan asked him to sign a shirt featuring an album he wasnt involved in. This upset Portnoy so much, he complained about it on Facebook. Thankfully, things are all cool now, with 2023 seeing his long-awaited return to Dream Theater.

Rumours is considered one of the greatest pop rock albums ever, with one of the most tumultuous recordings in history. At the time, the band was made up of two couples and Mick Fleetwood. Both the couples were breaking up during recording, and Mick decided to have a brief affair with Stevie Nicks. Throughout the whole ordeal, he acted like the band dad, but his multiple affairs tainted his moral high ground. According to Mick, making Rumours almost killed them. On the bright side, it made for an amazing breakup album, which still gets millions of plays globally.

As the drummer for Genesis, Collins was a major driving force, contributing significantly to their success. By 1985, he was considered a legendary drummer. An even more renowned drummer was John Bonham, who founded Led Zeppelin. Bonham tragically died in 1980, so when Led Zeppelin was asked to play at Live Aid, someone had to fill in. It was their first major performance without Bonham, and they decided to bring in Phil Collins. He didnt rehearse, and hadnt heard most of the songs, so the performance was diabolical. Jimmy Page and the rest of Led Zeppelin pointed the finger at Phil Collins. The set was never included on DVD releases, showing how badly Zeppelin hated the performance, and by extension Collins.

During the peak of the 90s grunge craze, Pearl Jam signed up Dave Abbruzzese as their drummer. He played on two of their biggest records, Vs and Vitalogy. Even though he killed it musically, the band couldnt stand him. Like most grunge bands, they opposed corporations. In protest, they boycotted Ticketmaster in 1994. Well, Abbruzzese didnt entirely agree with this, not sharing their anti-capitalist sentiments. Thus, they fired him in 1994, due to personality conflicts. Thankfully in 2017, Pearl Jam invited all five of their former drummers to their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction, meaning their hatred is likely a thing of the past.

Its no secret that Noel and Liam Gallagher can be a pair of rock and roll divas. One example comes from 1995, specifically towards Oasis founding member Tony McCarroll. Not long after their debut album Definitely Maybe was a huge success, Noel and Tony began to fall out. Noel claimed his drumming is nowhere near good enough for Oasis, which motivated him to fire him completely. Four years later in 1999, he tried suing Oasis for £18 million, claiming he was owed compensation. It ended when he was awarded £550,000 out-of-court, but it doesnt seem like they ever became friends again.

There are some Beatles fans who contend that Ringo wasnt as good a drummer as Pete Best, the man he replaced in the group isnt even the best drummer in The Beatles. But John Lennon thought he was a lousy drummer and could barely keep time. Best later said in an interview that this was actually jealousy. Regardless of his ability, the way they cut him out was particularly harsh. Best later sued them for defamation of character, asking for $18 million. He never got this amount though, it was settled out-of-court. Best has warmed up to The Beatles in recent decades and now even has a street in Liverpool named after him.

The most prolific members of The Kinks were frontmen Ray & Dave Davies, followed by drummer Mick Avory. The latter was a member for 21 years, between 1963 and 84. Despite his long time with the band, Dave Davies had a lot of issues with him. This led to numerous fights, many live on stage. The most famous was in Cardiff, 1965, when Avory knocked Davies out with a cymbal stand. Things got so bad that Avory decided to leave completely in 1984. Youll be happy to hear, theyve since warmed up to each other. Davies even invited Avory to rejoin, but he decided to pass since it sounded exhausting.

Few rock stars have been the center of as much drama as Guns N Roses frontman Axl Rose. In 1985, the band hired Steven Adler to be their drummer. They then achieved global success together, which Adler enjoyed being a part of right up until 1990. By then, Adler had grown heavily dependent on substances, which Axl got quite irate about. He even threatened to leave if Adler didnt clean up. Adlers dark habits got the better of him and eventually got him fired after being physically unable to drum. Thankfully Adlers better now, and hes friendly with the band again. In 2012, Adler joined their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a ceremony that Rose decided to skip.

Jokes aside, theres a drummer more infamous than Animal, and his name is Lars Ulrich. If he wasnt a founding member of Metallica, he might have been kicked out decades ago. Some in the drumming community think hes bad at his instrument, and even James Hetfields first impression was that his drumming was terrible. Things got most heated between Ulrich and the band during the St. Anger era, when Ulrich replaced his snare drum with a trash can. At one point, Hetfield said he didnt want to play if Ulrich was involved. The shambolic situation was recorded for the documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, making the intense drama publicly available.


Were there any controversial drummers we forgot to include? Let us know in the comments below!