Top 10 Musicians Who RUINED Their Reputations with One Performance

#10: The (Dixie) Chicks

In 2003, The Dixie Chicksnow known simply as The Chicksmanaged to alienate a large portion of their fanbase through comments they made about President George W. Bush. Musicians taking shots at politicians is nothing new. But after criticizing Bush and the ongoing Iraq warsaying they were ashamed that he was from their home state of Texasthey underestimated just how much of their fanbase would take offense. The Chicks were labeled unpatriotic, faced death threats, and were blacklisted by many radio stations. Natalie Maines issued an apology, but later went back on it. In the long run, they were celebrated for speaking their minds, but the damage done to their sales and standing in the country music scene was undeniable.

#9: The Everly Brothers

The legendary folk duo the Everly Brothers had a run of huge success in the late 50s and early 60s. But by the time the 70s arrived, both Don and Phil were very clearly growing weary of being in the band. It all came to a head prior to their final ever performance in Buena Park, California. After Phil arrived at the show and realized that Don was drunk, their performance was a total mess. Eventually, Phil decided to smash his guitar and storm off in a fit of rage, leaving Don to tell the crowd that the Everly Brothers had already been dead for a decade. Sure, they got back together in the 80s, but they could never truly recapture their fire.

#8: Creed

Wanna hear a story about a band who put on a performance so bad that they were sued by four fans? Well, then, the story of Creeds show in Rosemont, Illinois in December of 2002 ought to do the trick. At the time, Creed had already achieved big success on the chartsbut singer Scott Stapps growing dependence on painkillers and alcohol was a problem. And on this fateful night, he was supposedly so out of it that he couldnt remember lyrics, and repeatedly left the stage for extended periods. The lawsuit claimed that Creeds management knew he wasnt fit to performand yet, they still took money from the fans. The case was thrown out, but the bands reputation was left in tatters.

#7: Michelle Shocked

Folk-punk singer Michelle Shocked had a pretty devoted following after bursting on the scene in the mid-to-late 80s with a string of successful albums. But in 2013, she managed to lose a huge portion of her fanbase when she launched into a rant about same-sex marriage out of nowhere during a show. It was so out of left field that the venue ended her gig prematurely, and many people walked out. In fact, her entire tour was canceledand her claim that her quotes were misinterpreted fell flat. Factor in that she goes after anyone who uploads her music to YouTube, and its pretty easy to see why her starpower is virtually non-existent these days. Not shocking at all.

#6: Sinéad OConnor

Sinéad OConnor was poised for stardom after her huge hit-single Nothing Compares 2 U. But as a true rebel at heart, she could not sit idly by without speaking her mind. And so, on what shouldve been a huge breakthrough performance on SNL, OConnor took a moment during a performance of Bob Marleys War to rip up a picture of Pope John Paul II in protest of the churchs handling of a series of abuses that had taken place in her home of Ireland. At the time, without the context, people vilified Sinéad and chased her out of the mainstreambut as the years went on, her display was vindicated many times over. Unfortunately, the damage to her career and mental state had already been done.

#5: Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton sealed his status as a rock legend by the time the 60s had concluded, following it up with a string of solo hits in the 70s that really marked his name in the mainstream. But one truly dark moment in 1976 forever stained his legacy. During a performance in Birmingham, Clapton launched into an unprovoked ranturging his fans to vote for far-right politician Enoch Powell and voicing his anger at the state of England, while making sure to use seemingly every racial slur that popped into his mind. He would later apologize and claim that he wasnt thinking straightbut for a lot of people, they never truly looked at him the same way again.

#4: Janet Jackson

The most famous moment in the history of Super Bowl halftime shows had virtually nothing to do with music. Janet Jackson was a true superstar in every sense of the wordliving up to the family name with a run of hits through the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. But at the 2004 Super Bowl, a disastrous wardrobe malfunction accidentally caused by Justin Timberlakedubbed Nipplegateleft her blacklisted by many key areas of the music industry. Why was Janet blamed? Well, she was an easy scapegoat. Supposedly, Timberlake was not meant to entirely expose her in that way, but unfortunately, he did. From that moment on, Janet lost out on a series of opportunities, and her sales suffered greatly.

#3: Robin Thicke

As if releasing one of the creepiest hit singles of the era wasnt enough, Robin Thicke ended up losing a whole lot more than his reputation. In 2013, Miley Cyrus joined him on-stage at the VMAs for a performance of Blurred Linesdancing in a very suggestive and risqué manner. The stunt earned criticism, of course. And most people seemed to agree that Thicke came out looking like a sleazebag. Shortly after, his wife Paula Patton divorced him, and his follow-up albumwhich he actually named Paula in an attempt to win her backsold dismally. Thicke was reduced to a laughing stock and has barely been heard from since. And its not hard to see why.

#2: Ashlee Simpson

In an era where a lot of pop stars tended to lip-sync, Ashlee Simpson will forever be known as the performer who ended up with the short end of the stick. On what was poised to be a very important performance of one of her two latest singles, Autobiography, on Saturday Night Live, Simpson endured a major embarrassment. After suffering from vocal issues that day, it was decided that she would lip-sync both songs. Unfortunately, during her second performance, the wrong vocal track played, causing Simpson to be left looking incredibly silly. She didnt help things by doing a very awkward dance and walking off-stage. From that moment, despite her success, this became the incident that defined her musical career, and her reputation never recovered.

#1: Milli Vanilli

Milli Vanilli is proof that you can only take a fake band so far before the whole thing falls apart. The first moment that derailed them came during a performance of their smash-hit Girl You Know Its True, which was ruined when the backing track started to skip unexpectedly. But hey, sometimes artists mimeit wasnt totally out of the norm. However, upon closer inspection, it became known that Milli Vanilli didnt even sing their own songs in the studioand had virtually nothing to do with them, apart from being the face of the operation. This shattered the bands image immediately. These days, theyre used as the prime example of musicians who tried to con their audiences. They even had to give back their Grammy Award.

What other musicians do you think totally ruined their reputation on-stage? Let us know in the comments section below.