Some legendary rivalries, a few in-band tiffs, and a feud to die for: revisit a dozen dust-ups that have torn bickering bands apart over the years.

• Noel & Liam Gallagher

  It’s 2009. You’re in Paris, at the Rock en Seine Festival, waiting for Oasis to take the stage. They cancel the gig minutes before set time, then Noel posts this on the band’s website: “It is with some sadness and great relief…I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.” And just like that, their eighteen-year run as a band–with quite a few of those years as the best band in the U.K.–was done. Twelve years later, he and Liam are still feuding, with the latter using Twitter to torment the former on the regular.

  

• Ray & Dave Davies

  When it comes to brawling English bands, Oasis were just their generation’s Kinks. Ray and Dave Davies were born in London in the 1940’s, the youngest of eight, with six older sisters. They were fighting long before they started making music in the early ’60s and long after the British Invasion gave way to the subsequent decades and the band called it quits in the mid-’90s. Unlike the Gallaghers, though, the Davies brothers were talking about making music together again as recently as early 2021.

• Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham

  Not all band-related drama comes from relatives in bands. Sometimes it’s romantic entanglements that tangle things up. At the height of their late-’70s powers, Fleetwood Mac boasted a whopping 3 sets of romantic partners…and they all broke up. In the case of Nicks and Buckingham, the drama has never ceased; it’s just ebbed and flowed over the years. And now that Buckingham has a new solo album to promote, the drama is flowing heavily yet again.

  

  Stevie and Lindsey Buckingham were a couple when they recorded ‘Buckingham/Nicks,’ and this song seems like something Stevie might have written about him: “​​You burn brightly in spite of yourself/I bring the water down to you/But you’re too hot to touch/You’re too hot to touch.” Besides (probably) inspiring the song, Buckingham laid down a great guitar solo here.

• David Gilmour & Roger Waters

  David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in 1968. Roger Waters left in 1985. And it’s a bloody miracle that their dysfunctional dynamic within the band yielded the wealth of amazing music it did for those seventeen years. We all know the story post-1985: legal battles that saw Waters trying to dissolve Pink Floyd and Gilmour and company fighting to keep that from happening. And although the two were able to set aside their endless squabble for a reunion performance at Live 8 in 2005, don’t expect anything like that ever again. Theirs is a feud for the ages.

• Brian Wilson & Mike Love

  Brian Wilson is a musical genius. His cousin–and former Beach Boys bandmate–Mike Love is just a guy who can sing harmonies. So how the hell is it that Mike Love gets to tour as The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson isn’t allowed to? Long story short: Wilson and his camp voted to license the Beach Boys name out to Love. He can tour, but he can’t record. And 15% of what he makes goes to Wilson, who also holds publishing rights on the Beach Boys catalog. So while Mike Love might look like a winner, he’s actually the big loser in this band feud.

• Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel

  Let’s stay in the ’60s for one more rivalry. Actually, let’s not. Couple of whiny wimps, Simon & Garfunkel. Always jealous of each other. Boo-hoo. Let’s move on.

  

  …

• John Lennon & Paul McCartney

  If we’re going to dig into a battle between rival songwriters in a band, does it get any bigger than Lennon and McCartney in The Beatles? And the fact that the two legends used songs on their post-Beatles solo albums to take digs at each other? So passive-aggressive. So utterly British.

• Axl & Slash

  If the story is to be believed, Slash working with Michael Jackson in the early ’90s was the biggest nail in the coffin that led to Guns N’ Roses pretty much burying themselves around 1996. Axl, being a survivor of sexual abuse as a child, wasn’t too keen on his guitarist working with an alleged abuser. So with the end of the band began a 20-year feud that, luckily, has since ended. They talked it out and made peace, just like grown folks!

• Joey & Johnny Ramone

  You know the old rock & roll tales of bands with members who can’t stand each other to the point where all they do is take the stage and that’s it? No off-stage contact or conversation? That was Joey and Johnny Ramone. Liberal and Conservative. Democrat and Republican. Hippie and Capitalist. Oil and Water. Oh, and Johnny stole Joey’s girlfriend, Linda. According to Johnny, of course.

• Ian Gillan & Ritchie Blackmore

  Much like it was for the Ramones, Deep Purple were able to get the job done live despite the fact that their frontman and guitarist hated each other’s guts. Long story short, Gillan left the band in 1974 because Blackmore was pushing for a more commercial sound. You know, “shallow” as opposed to “deep.” Gillan’s resignation letter is the stuff of rock legend.

  A quick scan from the Chris Charlesworth Deep Purple book... pic.twitter.com/WaIF2EML4K

  — Jörg Planer (@JoergPlaner) July 26, 2019

• Vinnie Paul & Phil Anselmo

  Pantera‘s Vinnie Paul and Phil Anselmo never had the best relationship, and it only got worse when the band broke up in 2003. You might think the onstage death of former guitarst Dimebag Darrell in late 2004 would have brought the two foes together, but it had the opposite effect. Their relationship was so cold, in fact, that Anselmo heard of Paul’s death in 2018 secondhand. Paul had vowed in 2016 to never speak to Anselmo again. He stuck to his word.

• Varg Vikernes & Euronymous

  Those Norwegian black metal bands, man. Burning down churches, killing each other. True story: In August 1993, Varg Vikernes fatally stabbed Mayhem guitarist Euronymous. Why? Because Vikernes was convinced Euronymous was going to kill him. Blood feud: the ultimate band rivalry.

  https://youtu.be/-6hk3i6TqJ0

Sign me up for the ROCK 92.9 email newsletter!

Be the first to know about rock news, upcoming shows, plus exclusive prizes, giveaways, and more!

First Name *

Last Name

Email *

Subscribe

By clicking "Subscribe" I agree to the website's terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.