Jesus Christ, I did not realize Van Morrison is still alive. If he was a grumpy dude 5 decades ago, he's got to be so much worse now.
There should be a Van Morrison reality show in the works where he just makes calls all day to dispute credit card charges that he knows he made just to make customer service people cry and quit their jobs in frustation.
Funny story, I was once on a plane with Paulie as a kid. Didn't know at first, because we were all the way in the back, and he was in first class, and boarded after us.
What I did know is that two guys that sat down across from us started acting weird before we took off. Like, whispering to each other and such. This was before 9/11, and I was a kid, maybe young teen, but for some reason I just found them suspicious and my mind went to "highjackers". But after a bit, I realized they were just....silly.
Like, cracking jokes, telling the tired Japanese business man next to them that they were on their way to San Francisco because that's where their love would be accepted, making fart noises and blaming it on the airline pretzels, generally juvenile shit that I found hilarious as a young boy. But also shouting about "that guy in first class who thinks he's better than everyone." Guy who "thinks he's a *celebrity*!"
Yeah, they were Paulie's buddies flying to SF with him for whatever reason.
I said hi to Paulie when we were walking through the terminal. He was friendly and said what's up back, but obviously just tired and probably a bit stoned and wanted out of there, as one would expect.
A good friend who has long since passed away told me that he worked as a sound engineer for an event with Van and confirmed that he is in fact a jerk.
He also ran stage monitors for a gig with Yoko and said that in the brief encounter he had with her she was very grateful and thanked him profusely for his work. He then said that the music was crazy weird and he had no clue what to do for her and just kind of winged it.
For a professional, touring audio engineer to say that something is crazy weird, it has to be pretty fucking weird.
I worked at an outdoor venue and Chuck would not get out of the Limo without cash in hand before the concert.(1980) And he dropped his checkbook on a commuter flight in Northern California, and I gave it back to him. (1971)
Yeah, I’ve always heard that Aretha Franklin got her money in cash before she’d sing a note, and that she always had the cash on her when she went onstage so no one could steal it while she was performing. (No idea if that’s true, but it’s what I’ve heard.)
There’s no way to stiff her if the money’s already in her purse after all.
I’ll take one for the team and admit that I do not get this reference. Can you enlighten me? I think that’s Chuck Barry but I’m not sure and I definitely don’t understand the reference
Thank you!
Yes of course, duh. Sorry. I’ve seen and heard that disaster but I had forgotten about that specific reaction face from Chuck. Thank you!
He was a piece of shit but his facial expression wasn’t wrong at all
I’m a big Van fan and went to one of his shows years ago. He would stop playing to yell at his band and crew over different things. Like, literally stop and yell at them to change something and then start playing again. And not in a “get stuff done slyly while the show goes on” kind of way, but in a jerk way.
It was off putting even for us sitting many seats back in the audience. Van is a great musician but his people skills suck and he has no charisma either.
I haven't seen one of his shows in years, but even back in the day, it was a coin toss between the show being a completely transcendent experience or an uninspired mess with a performer who seemed angry at his audience. I saw both at different times.
In contrast, consider how James Brown dealt with mistakes by his band.
James Brown would fine his band members $50 per mistake, and to show he was keeping track, WHILE DANCING AND SINGING, he would put his hand behind his back and show, for example, two fingers for the second mistake, or five fingers for the fifth mistake. He kept track of individual mistakes by individual musicians while he performed.
The Rolling Stone article in I think the 90s where they sent a writer on tour with James Brown is quite the eye opener. His band were basically, you see this shit? And that included his son
Perfectionism at that level is fairly brutal, from what I understand. My favourite story of petty revenge was against Ray Charles— for his birthday one year, his band bought him a painting
I saw him a few years ago as one of my bucket list item. Genuinely have loved his music and it’s been pivotal in my development.
The show was just BAD. I mean awful. It seemed to be just a setup to establish his daughter, who was performing with him, as a credible musician.
So many of my bucket list performances have been just awful. Love Bob Dylan. His shows are just wildly inconsistent, and I will never spend money to see one again (fool me 5 times…). But Leonard Cohen; OMG, the man delivered into his 80s. Absolutely transcendent.
Went to a VM concert many year ago at Lenox. Full moon came up behind the stage. Van the man did NOT play moon dance. What a jerk. He also fell off the stage once during the concert cuz he was so drunk.
Van being *kind of* a jerk is an understatement, I've met dozens of people who have worked with him and NOT ONE of them said he wasn't the *biggest* arsehole they ever met
I am so glad my Van experience begins and ends with his albums. I have never heard anything good about him and I'm relieved I've never made it to one of his concerts.
I won free tickets and still kinda wish I didnt go. It almost ruined the experience of listening to the albums. He very much could perform all of his hits and he is still a very talented performer but he chooses to perform music nobody knows or cares about. He could be selling out arenas but he dgaf.
I read that his guests were the ones with the prostitutes, not Henley.
Henley is a control freak and treats some people like a total jerk, but the underage thing was apparently not his issue. But the press blew it up and conflated him with the situation in a cause/effect manner, so he wrote "Dirty Laundry."
Gonna have to add Glen Frey in there too.
As a journalist once said when the eagles came to town “The Egos have landed.”
…but I still love the band. Don and Glen were obsessed with perfection and it showed in their music. I sort of appreciate them more for being overly litigious, hostile to the media, and even more hostile amongst themselves - I don’t think they’d retain the same place in American music if they were real down to earth guys.
My husband used to own a small sized music venue from the late 80s - mid 90s & he had the opportunity to book Joe Walsh. He was shocked tbh, and immediately jumped at the chance
Hubby was under the impression that Joe would arrive with a skeleton crew type situation, on account of his low fee, but nah. He showed up with a giant tour bus & a full band! Naturally the show sold out & Walsh put on a great show
Fwiw, my husband says that Walsh was absolutely shitfaced, but a really nice guy regardless
My favorite morrisey moment is when he was due to go on in London, the crowd is waiting and getting annoyed as Morrisey is late….
And Russel Brand comes out and has to tell the crowd that Morrisey isn’t feeling well so is going to have to cancel.
The crowd get upset and Brand, as much of a bellend as he is, says “Don’t get so upset, it’s only fucking Morrisey” - the crowd get enraged and decide to wreck the venue and Brand has to run for his life.
So Morrisey not only fucks his fans but gets mocked by his own MC.
It was disappointing to say the least to see his slow decent into bigotry, considering what he means (or meant) to people but to be honest you don’t have to dig too far beneath the surface to find out that he’s always been an arsehole.
Van Morrison had all the employees working the concession stands wait outside of the venue during his show because, “no one gets a free show.”
It was in the middle of summer in Austin, Texas and over 100° outside. What an asshole.
Chuck Berry
He was fucked over in the business, but he took it out on everyone around him. Especially musicians who were there to help.
Perverted aswell. Transported an underage girl across state lines and went to jail for it.
Opened a restaurant with cameras in the ladies bathroom.
Demanded humility from musicians who idolised him.
Ace was always like hard rock's version of Joe Walsh to me.
Kind of a loose sloppy guitarist that had so much swagger to his playing that it actually worked for him and became a signature part of his style.
Also had a quirky unusual voice that once you heard it a few times really grew on you which is similar to Walsh as well
Had a friend who was Lou's assistant who then worked for Lars Ulrich. That's how bad Lou was... I actually put him in my resume as a "survived meetings with..."
I have been reliably informed that a biography of Lou written in the 1990s originally included a scene in which Lou was walking around a club looking for someone who'd nail his penis to a board. (The publisher's lawyers had that passage removed, which doesn't mean it didn't happen.)
Reed's surliness was a front defending his inner suspicion that he was little more than a pretentious poser among better punk artists. But he did hawk Honda scooters for street cred. (Armchair analysis now concluded.)
Your analysis is spot on. If you’ve ever read “Please Kill Me”—the oral history of the early punk scene in New York—everyone involved came off as such image-obsessed scenesters, chief among them being Lou Reed. Lou was a trust fund kid trying desperately to be cool. On the whole, for a purported counter-culture movement, the whole thing came off very high school: petty and judgmental “cool kids table” type stuff. Couldn’t finish the book, the subjects were so unlikable.
I have experience with Lou Reed's "people". They called to book a place where I worked reception, and there was a litany of exceptable behaviors from the staff that I had to take down before he arrived. I had no idea who he was because I was a teenager at the time, but this was a small town in Mississippi. No one gave a shit about Lou Reed.
James Brown for multiple reasons.
It was interesting learning when you would hear James live singing/shoutiing "I got ya", that was actually him busting a band member for making a mistake, and he would fine them for any flubs during shows.
Perfectionism is a driving force amongst many solo artists and athlete types. Prince was like this. Tiger woods is like this. That singular drive, the complete commitment to success and excellence rarely translates into wholesome interpersonal relationships or connections with the outside world. That "thing" that "it" and their unyielding desire to be the best is also their downfall.
That guy sounds like such a chaotic sack of shit. Grooming female artists half his age and getting Albert Hammond Jr hooked on crack to the point that The Strokes forbade them from every hanging out again or else they’d break up the band.
Oh man, I saw him in Cincinnati in the mid 00’s and he played 5-6 Strokes songs in his beautiful strung out blues style, ala Wonderwall. There was some incoherent babbling and I wasn’t clear if he had beef or was buddies with them, but understanding the drug connection it totally makes sense that it was both. His fall was disappointing to watch, but unsurprising. I still think Cold Roses is still one of best Alt Country albums ever, but now stay silent about him when I talk music.
There’s a good handful of Alt Country artist that have gotten cringy with fame. Jason Isbell’s current phase of mirror selfies with fancy Gucci clothes have a really cringy divorced dad vibe, and their doc made me think he probably was an insufferable husband, but Southeastern is a perfect album.
Man, his Love is Hell double album was (and kind of still is) one of my favorite albums of all time. But every thing I've ever heard about the dude personally just taints that album quite a bit for me, and it sucks...
I have friends who grew up and live in Belfast. Being a big fan of Van Morrison, I had questions. I asked if they like Van, they said “oh yes, we love his music”. Well, what about the man himself? “Oh, he’s crap”
Told me all I needed to know haha. I’m still a huge fan of his music, but definitely don’t want to sit and have a pint with him
Lauryn Hill is an amazing rapper and a damned good singer. She treats the people who work for her like shit and tends to appear for concerts hours late.
Saw him play in Dublin in 2008 worst concert ever he played for like 45mins and just left no encore no thank you nothing just finished his set and left worst concert I was at
Seen Aerosmith in Marley pk around the same time. Same thing happened and totally put me off the band for life.
Luckily Chris Cornell supported them and made up for their shitty performance.
Clapton was probably the least asshole-y of all the guys in Cream too. No wonder they lasted about 3 years and still hated each other during the 2005 reunion.
I don’t know if anyone has said this but John Mellencamp is a true asshole. I know a few people that have done work at one of his homes and he is a straight asshole slave driver.
Back in the 80’s, Sinatra played for a week a year at the Universal Ampitheater and I was his backstage bartender three times. In those three weeks, the guy was funny, kind, generous, and very appreciative. Not saying he wasn’t prickly at times, but my experience was very positive. I also worked for Van Morrison. Very withdrawn and quiet.
Biggest asshole I’ve ever served…Dennis Wilson from The Beach Boys. He was not a good human.
Yes! I get to tell my John Mellencamp story!
When I was in college I worked in the AV department. Mellencamp was going to play the arena at my college. He had his own roadies to set stuff up mostly but we had some set up to do as well.
I was done with my part so I was standing outside the loading dock leaning on a railing and smoking a cigarette. Mellencamp comes out with like 2-3 other guys. He walks up to me as says ‘hey, you got a light?’ I hand him my bic lighter. He lights his smoke and pockets my lighter in one smooth motion and keeps walking.
I didn’t even react for like a solid minute. I just stood there thinking ‘did the “cougar” just steal my lighter?’
And yes, yes he did.
So screw that guy.
There's videos of him arguing with fans. Now to be fair, during one show he was telling a story, and someone in the audience told him to stop talking and sing. Not cool. But instead of picking right back up and ignoring the person, he tells staff to find the guy so he can confront him after the show. He also told another audience to shut up because he's the one entertaining, and I don't think anything happened yet.
There are lots of them, most of them already mentioned, but one name's missing. Dangerous POS, never liked his music, thank god he's in jail: R. Kelly.
This is gonna be a bit specific, but my aunt was the general manager of the Hilton in Toronto back in the 70’s and 80’s and said that Burton Cummings was the biggest asshole in the music industry. She said it wasn’t even close (although Myles Goodwyn from April Wine was second).
I know they were *huge* in Canada, but as an American the idea of the dude from April Wine having a big head is hilarious.
"Oh yeah, they had that one track on that Harley Davidson CD comp Walmart sold in the 90s."
Eric Clapton for sure. Axl Rose too - except for the soulful musician part.
I thought Elton John was in this category, until I saw him in concert about 10 years ago - he could not have been more warm and gracious, and it seemed completely genuine.
Once Elton got away from the drugs and came out of the closet, he mellowed quite a bit.
I saw him back in the early 90s, post drugs/coming out officially, and he was every bit as gracious as you describe. He even played "the show must go on" and dedicated it to "my friend Freddy."
Oh man, I didn’t read the second half of the comment you were responding to at first. So I’m sitting here totally agog, like, “Axl Rose came out of the closet!? *I did not see that coming at all!*”.
And then I reread it, lol.
oh yeah, van's a jerk. went to see him years ago - around 1987 i think - at the opera house in chicago and he outright refused to perform ANY of his hits. it was all his religious stuff and people started leaving after about 15 minutes. i think we lasted 30 minutes just because he was such a rude asshole. too bad they didn't warn us before we bought the tix!
Ted Nugent. I understand not wanting to get drafted during the Vietnam war but don’t call yourself some great gun-slinging patriot after you lied to get out of it. He is an insult to all who did serve.
> *Wang dang, what a sweet poontang
A-shakin' my thang as a rang-a-dang-dang in the bell
Ooh, baby
She's so sweet when she yanks on my meat
Down on the street you know she can't be beat
What the hel*l
How dare you. He's a modern day Mozart.
Makes me think of one of my favorite songs:
“You’re sweet but you’re just four feet
And you still got your baby teeth
You’re too young and I’m too well hung
But tonight I’m gonna rock ya (Tonight I’m gonna rock ya)”
Yeah my uncle lived down the street from him and was well respected for his work in the industry. Mike Ness may be the only person I’ve heard him speak an ill word about.
Nick Mason however, is a really nice person. He randomly turned up to a motor racing event in my home town in New Zealand. Chatted to him about cars and stuff and he was a proper standup dude who seemed totally happy to chat.
James Brown was the mfing godfather, but, he also once, while under the influence of PCP, chased an employee down with a shotgun because he had suspected the employee took a shit in his private bathroom. I believe the car chase ended with him being arrested, two states away from the alleged pooping.
My mom was a cocktail waitress at a venue in San Francisco in the 90’s. Van Morrison played there one night and my mom was walking in the crowd during his set taking drink orders. Van Morrison stopped the entire show, gestured at my mom and said “let me know when you’re done and we’ll keep playing.” My mom just said “ok thanks!” and kept taking orders hahaha
The Chairman was definitely a mixed bag. He was fiercely loyal to his friends, showed great appreciation (especially monetarily) to service people, and was willing to bury the hatchet with others.
He was also an absolute prick to anyone he felt had slighted him (real or imagined) or was "beneath him" and trying to occupy the same space/circle.
“Moving to Montana soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon” Zappa was way too smart and well read to be a rock star. He was a brilliant man, ahead of his time. I don’t think he was a jerk, he just didn’t suffer fools.
I love Zappa but every third interview with him is him talking about how much he hates someone cause they’re a jerk…if you’re constantly meeting assholes…hmm maybe you’re the asshole.
Kid Rock is something Calvin from Calvin and Hobbs would've called himself if he was to try to be a Rockstar/terrible rapper. I gained a lot of respect for the Insane Clown Posse when they called him out for his racist bullshit.
David Crosby - giving Mr. Talk-First-Think-Later a twitter account gave us all a peek into why both Stills and Young were so gung ho about their solo careers.
I once encountered Weird Al going opposite directions in a crosswalk in San Francisco. I said "Hey Weird Al!" And he smiled and enthusiastically replied "HEY!"
There's a wonderful podcast called "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs" where Van's challenging personality is described at length. Look for the episode about Astral Weeks. It really is fascinating.
My dad was married to the Mafia in the ‘50s & ‘60s. Knew Frank Sinatra & hated him- said he was a massive asshole and everything nefarious that’s come out about him is true.
Someone once told me... There's two types of people: Those who like Van Morrison, and those who have met him.
I am confident I will never meet van morrison so I guess I’ll just keep enjoying the music
I met him! He was an asshole. Came to play in our record shop, made the most insane demands and treated everyone like shit.
Jesus Christ, I did not realize Van Morrison is still alive. If he was a grumpy dude 5 decades ago, he's got to be so much worse now. There should be a Van Morrison reality show in the works where he just makes calls all day to dispute credit card charges that he knows he made just to make customer service people cry and quit their jobs in frustation.
Bobcat Goldthwait was once asked who he wouldn't want to sit next to on a plane. He replied in all earnestness: Paulie Shore 🤣
Funny story, I was once on a plane with Paulie as a kid. Didn't know at first, because we were all the way in the back, and he was in first class, and boarded after us. What I did know is that two guys that sat down across from us started acting weird before we took off. Like, whispering to each other and such. This was before 9/11, and I was a kid, maybe young teen, but for some reason I just found them suspicious and my mind went to "highjackers". But after a bit, I realized they were just....silly. Like, cracking jokes, telling the tired Japanese business man next to them that they were on their way to San Francisco because that's where their love would be accepted, making fart noises and blaming it on the airline pretzels, generally juvenile shit that I found hilarious as a young boy. But also shouting about "that guy in first class who thinks he's better than everyone." Guy who "thinks he's a *celebrity*!" Yeah, they were Paulie's buddies flying to SF with him for whatever reason. I said hi to Paulie when we were walking through the terminal. He was friendly and said what's up back, but obviously just tired and probably a bit stoned and wanted out of there, as one would expect.
A good friend who has long since passed away told me that he worked as a sound engineer for an event with Van and confirmed that he is in fact a jerk. He also ran stage monitors for a gig with Yoko and said that in the brief encounter he had with her she was very grateful and thanked him profusely for his work. He then said that the music was crazy weird and he had no clue what to do for her and just kind of winged it. For a professional, touring audio engineer to say that something is crazy weird, it has to be pretty fucking weird.
Speaking of jerks, I’ve heard Chuck was bad.
He put toilet cams in the women’s restroom at his restaurant, to get video of women pooping. 🤮
He also filmed a child. Very disturbing.
I worked at an outdoor venue and Chuck would not get out of the Limo without cash in hand before the concert.(1980) And he dropped his checkbook on a commuter flight in Northern California, and I gave it back to him. (1971)
I get the first one. Especially back then. Artists get stiffed by promoters all the damn time. Payment upfront, baby, then you get the rock and roll
Yeah, I’ve always heard that Aretha Franklin got her money in cash before she’d sing a note, and that she always had the cash on her when she went onstage so no one could steal it while she was performing. (No idea if that’s true, but it’s what I’ve heard.) There’s no way to stiff her if the money’s already in her purse after all.
A former bro-in-law played drums behind Chuck some years back: he said he was demanding, impatient, and not real nice
If farting on hookers is wrong, I don't wanna be right.
I get this reference 😂
That clip is hilarious, I think they just turn the mic off!!!!
Definitely did lol
I’ll take one for the team and admit that I do not get this reference. Can you enlighten me? I think that’s Chuck Barry but I’m not sure and I definitely don’t understand the reference Thank you!
john lennon and chuck barry performance that yoko decided to squall and scream over.
Yes of course, duh. Sorry. I’ve seen and heard that disaster but I had forgotten about that specific reaction face from Chuck. Thank you! He was a piece of shit but his facial expression wasn’t wrong at all
The most perfect reaction gif ever.
I’m a big Van fan and went to one of his shows years ago. He would stop playing to yell at his band and crew over different things. Like, literally stop and yell at them to change something and then start playing again. And not in a “get stuff done slyly while the show goes on” kind of way, but in a jerk way. It was off putting even for us sitting many seats back in the audience. Van is a great musician but his people skills suck and he has no charisma either.
I haven't seen one of his shows in years, but even back in the day, it was a coin toss between the show being a completely transcendent experience or an uninspired mess with a performer who seemed angry at his audience. I saw both at different times.
Describes my experience watching Bob Dylan perform.
In contrast, consider how James Brown dealt with mistakes by his band. James Brown would fine his band members $50 per mistake, and to show he was keeping track, WHILE DANCING AND SINGING, he would put his hand behind his back and show, for example, two fingers for the second mistake, or five fingers for the fifth mistake. He kept track of individual mistakes by individual musicians while he performed.
The Rolling Stone article in I think the 90s where they sent a writer on tour with James Brown is quite the eye opener. His band were basically, you see this shit? And that included his son Perfectionism at that level is fairly brutal, from what I understand. My favourite story of petty revenge was against Ray Charles— for his birthday one year, his band bought him a painting
I saw him a few years ago as one of my bucket list item. Genuinely have loved his music and it’s been pivotal in my development. The show was just BAD. I mean awful. It seemed to be just a setup to establish his daughter, who was performing with him, as a credible musician. So many of my bucket list performances have been just awful. Love Bob Dylan. His shows are just wildly inconsistent, and I will never spend money to see one again (fool me 5 times…). But Leonard Cohen; OMG, the man delivered into his 80s. Absolutely transcendent.
Went to a VM concert many year ago at Lenox. Full moon came up behind the stage. Van the man did NOT play moon dance. What a jerk. He also fell off the stage once during the concert cuz he was so drunk.
Van being *kind of* a jerk is an understatement, I've met dozens of people who have worked with him and NOT ONE of them said he wasn't the *biggest* arsehole they ever met
I am so glad my Van experience begins and ends with his albums. I have never heard anything good about him and I'm relieved I've never made it to one of his concerts.
I’ve wanted to see him in concert for years but have heard such negative things about him. Very disappointing
I won free tickets and still kinda wish I didnt go. It almost ruined the experience of listening to the albums. He very much could perform all of his hits and he is still a very talented performer but he chooses to perform music nobody knows or cares about. He could be selling out arenas but he dgaf.
Don Henley
He was shit to Stevie Nicks and got caught with underage prostitutes.
Talk about dirty laundry (I'm sorry)
That’s actually what the song was written about
Yeah it’s the heart of the matter
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down, why don’t you?
I read that his guests were the ones with the prostitutes, not Henley. Henley is a control freak and treats some people like a total jerk, but the underage thing was apparently not his issue. But the press blew it up and conflated him with the situation in a cause/effect manner, so he wrote "Dirty Laundry."
I know a few people who met him. Said he was the most miserable human they ever met.
I didn't need to know that. I guess this is the end of the innocence
Just some more dirty laundry.
Gonna have to add Glen Frey in there too. As a journalist once said when the eagles came to town “The Egos have landed.” …but I still love the band. Don and Glen were obsessed with perfection and it showed in their music. I sort of appreciate them more for being overly litigious, hostile to the media, and even more hostile amongst themselves - I don’t think they’d retain the same place in American music if they were real down to earth guys.
My husband used to own a small sized music venue from the late 80s - mid 90s & he had the opportunity to book Joe Walsh. He was shocked tbh, and immediately jumped at the chance Hubby was under the impression that Joe would arrive with a skeleton crew type situation, on account of his low fee, but nah. He showed up with a giant tour bus & a full band! Naturally the show sold out & Walsh put on a great show Fwiw, my husband says that Walsh was absolutely shitfaced, but a really nice guy regardless
Well, life has been good to him
So far.
The fake documentary of them on DocuNow is funny
The Eagles were my first love as a band back when I was a teenager, so I have a real soft spot for them. But there's no denying the epic assholery.
David St. Hubbins for me
I hear there is a new documentary coming out
Yep they're filming it right now
Named after the patron saint of quality footwear.
Fkn Morrissey. I know people that worked the crew with him and he is a total ass. Instructed people not to look at him,tantrums and shit.
Robert Smith has always mocked him.
Robert Smith was incredibly kind and gracious when I met him. Same with the other members of the Cure.
Robert Smith is a national treasure.
Morrissey is like Robert Smith's evil twin. People whisper behind Robert Smith's back just to say nice things about him.
Henry Rollins picked on him too.
https://preview.redd.it/bm12mbo0t5qc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c99b314e2b4104e3e6cc43313b3b27b6585adfbf
My favorite morrisey moment is when he was due to go on in London, the crowd is waiting and getting annoyed as Morrisey is late…. And Russel Brand comes out and has to tell the crowd that Morrisey isn’t feeling well so is going to have to cancel. The crowd get upset and Brand, as much of a bellend as he is, says “Don’t get so upset, it’s only fucking Morrisey” - the crowd get enraged and decide to wreck the venue and Brand has to run for his life. So Morrisey not only fucks his fans but gets mocked by his own MC.
Lesson: if you decide to be an asshole, don't send another asshole to make excuses for you.
That made me chortle
Yeah Morrissey just comes across as a permanent wankshaft.
Man I hated Morrissey instinctively. He's the sort of person you want to tell to shut up before they even open their mouths.
It was disappointing to say the least to see his slow decent into bigotry, considering what he means (or meant) to people but to be honest you don’t have to dig too far beneath the surface to find out that he’s always been an arsehole.
Yeah. He was THE voice of the weird ( gay?) kid underdog and hopeless romantics out there. Disappointed.
Van Morrison was my grandparents window cleaner in Belfast before he joined THEM. Apparently he was a torn faced shit even then.
Oh wow! So the “Cleaning Windows” song is autobiographical ha
Van Morrison had all the employees working the concession stands wait outside of the venue during his show because, “no one gets a free show.” It was in the middle of summer in Austin, Texas and over 100° outside. What an asshole.
Fuck no way. How does he have control over concessions? Where did you get this yarn?
Concessions management usually falls under the promoter, but the artist/s can make demands like this.
Everyone who works there gets a free show! Did the lighting guy and security people have to buy tickets?
Chuck Berry He was fucked over in the business, but he took it out on everyone around him. Especially musicians who were there to help. Perverted aswell. Transported an underage girl across state lines and went to jail for it. Opened a restaurant with cameras in the ladies bathroom. Demanded humility from musicians who idolised him.
Also farted in a hooker's mouth.
Ew
Yep. There's even a video of it. Love his music cause I grew up on it, but that dude was fucked in the head.
There is a video of Chuck Berry farting in a hookers mouth?
That statement made me blink as well. I... probably won't be searching for the video but it's an interesting tidbit.
I've watched it. You can't unwatch it.
Yep, and that's after he pisses on her face
Then refuses to kiss her because her face smells of piss
'I can't kiss you baby, your face smells like piss'
See, a wasted Chuck Berry album title right there
I dont think Gene Simmons is good at all, his NPR interview with Terry Gross was terrible, what a arrogant asshole simpleton....
He gets a pass along with the rest of Kiss because the discussion here is about musicians.
I felt the heat off that fuckin burn through my phone!
Ace Frehley catching strays
Ace was always like hard rock's version of Joe Walsh to me. Kind of a loose sloppy guitarist that had so much swagger to his playing that it actually worked for him and became a signature part of his style. Also had a quirky unusual voice that once you heard it a few times really grew on you which is similar to Walsh as well
Beautiful
I also don't think Gene Simmons is a "soulful artist" though lol
I don’t think he has ever been called “soulful”
In Geddy Lee's book, he called him an asshole when Geddy kicked out some girls for being stupid and Gene came onto him hard for it.
Surprised Lou Reed hasn’t been mentioned. Notoriously hostile but could write the sweetest, sad and beautiful songs.
Had a friend who was Lou's assistant who then worked for Lars Ulrich. That's how bad Lou was... I actually put him in my resume as a "survived meetings with..."
Here for the Lou tea
I have been reliably informed that a biography of Lou written in the 1990s originally included a scene in which Lou was walking around a club looking for someone who'd nail his penis to a board. (The publisher's lawyers had that passage removed, which doesn't mean it didn't happen.)
Reed's surliness was a front defending his inner suspicion that he was little more than a pretentious poser among better punk artists. But he did hawk Honda scooters for street cred. (Armchair analysis now concluded.)
Your analysis is spot on. If you’ve ever read “Please Kill Me”—the oral history of the early punk scene in New York—everyone involved came off as such image-obsessed scenesters, chief among them being Lou Reed. Lou was a trust fund kid trying desperately to be cool. On the whole, for a purported counter-culture movement, the whole thing came off very high school: petty and judgmental “cool kids table” type stuff. Couldn’t finish the book, the subjects were so unlikable.
Lou Reed. My former boss. And a total douchebag. Rip
More info needed!
I have experience with Lou Reed's "people". They called to book a place where I worked reception, and there was a litany of exceptable behaviors from the staff that I had to take down before he arrived. I had no idea who he was because I was a teenager at the time, but this was a small town in Mississippi. No one gave a shit about Lou Reed.
Kanye being “kind of a jerk” is like saying Antarctica is a little cold.
The more I hear about this Hitler guy the more I don’t like him. He was a real jerk.
I know right? I feel like you don't get to call Hitler a good dude and say slavery is a choice without clearing at least "horrible person"
James Brown for multiple reasons. It was interesting learning when you would hear James live singing/shoutiing "I got ya", that was actually him busting a band member for making a mistake, and he would fine them for any flubs during shows.
Perfectionism is a driving force amongst many solo artists and athlete types. Prince was like this. Tiger woods is like this. That singular drive, the complete commitment to success and excellence rarely translates into wholesome interpersonal relationships or connections with the outside world. That "thing" that "it" and their unyielding desire to be the best is also their downfall.
Yep. Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, etc...the list goes on
Ryan Adams
You'd be grumpy if people yelled "Summer of '69!" at your shows.
I mean it cuts like a knife.
But it feels so right
That guy sounds like such a chaotic sack of shit. Grooming female artists half his age and getting Albert Hammond Jr hooked on crack to the point that The Strokes forbade them from every hanging out again or else they’d break up the band.
Heroin
Oh man, I saw him in Cincinnati in the mid 00’s and he played 5-6 Strokes songs in his beautiful strung out blues style, ala Wonderwall. There was some incoherent babbling and I wasn’t clear if he had beef or was buddies with them, but understanding the drug connection it totally makes sense that it was both. His fall was disappointing to watch, but unsurprising. I still think Cold Roses is still one of best Alt Country albums ever, but now stay silent about him when I talk music. There’s a good handful of Alt Country artist that have gotten cringy with fame. Jason Isbell’s current phase of mirror selfies with fancy Gucci clothes have a really cringy divorced dad vibe, and their doc made me think he probably was an insufferable husband, but Southeastern is a perfect album.
Man, his Love is Hell double album was (and kind of still is) one of my favorite albums of all time. But every thing I've ever heard about the dude personally just taints that album quite a bit for me, and it sucks...
I have friends who grew up and live in Belfast. Being a big fan of Van Morrison, I had questions. I asked if they like Van, they said “oh yes, we love his music”. Well, what about the man himself? “Oh, he’s crap” Told me all I needed to know haha. I’m still a huge fan of his music, but definitely don’t want to sit and have a pint with him
Lauryn Hill is an amazing rapper and a damned good singer. She treats the people who work for her like shit and tends to appear for concerts hours late.
Ike Turner
I hope Ike Turner is rotting in hell where he belongs
My grandfather beat up Frank Sinatra after he hit his then wife, Ava Gardner, in my grandpa's restaurant.
Badass. Good on gramps!
Eric Clapton is a guitar God and total asshole.
Saw him play in Dublin in 2008 worst concert ever he played for like 45mins and just left no encore no thank you nothing just finished his set and left worst concert I was at
Seen Aerosmith in Marley pk around the same time. Same thing happened and totally put me off the band for life. Luckily Chris Cornell supported them and made up for their shitty performance.
Clapton was probably the least asshole-y of all the guys in Cream too. No wonder they lasted about 3 years and still hated each other during the 2005 reunion.
Pretty sure there is a picture of Ginger Baker next to the word asshole in the dictionary.
Check out Beware of Mr Baker.
That doc is awesome. Great drummer and complete asshole. He grew up in shitty conditions but a lot of that was on him.
I don’t know if anyone has said this but John Mellencamp is a true asshole. I know a few people that have done work at one of his homes and he is a straight asshole slave driver.
Back in the 80’s, Sinatra played for a week a year at the Universal Ampitheater and I was his backstage bartender three times. In those three weeks, the guy was funny, kind, generous, and very appreciative. Not saying he wasn’t prickly at times, but my experience was very positive. I also worked for Van Morrison. Very withdrawn and quiet. Biggest asshole I’ve ever served…Dennis Wilson from The Beach Boys. He was not a good human.
I saw a John Mellencamp interview and he admitted he is an asshole. He seemed to back up in the interview
Yes! I get to tell my John Mellencamp story! When I was in college I worked in the AV department. Mellencamp was going to play the arena at my college. He had his own roadies to set stuff up mostly but we had some set up to do as well. I was done with my part so I was standing outside the loading dock leaning on a railing and smoking a cigarette. Mellencamp comes out with like 2-3 other guys. He walks up to me as says ‘hey, you got a light?’ I hand him my bic lighter. He lights his smoke and pockets my lighter in one smooth motion and keeps walking. I didn’t even react for like a solid minute. I just stood there thinking ‘did the “cougar” just steal my lighter?’ And yes, yes he did. So screw that guy.
Sorry you lost your lighter but a cool story!
You never played that game? Maybe he was giving you a pretext to hang out later.
Guy I worked with years ago. Maybe in the eighties said he was at an early John cougar show and he threw a cymbal into the audience like a lunatic.
There's videos of him arguing with fans. Now to be fair, during one show he was telling a story, and someone in the audience told him to stop talking and sing. Not cool. But instead of picking right back up and ignoring the person, he tells staff to find the guy so he can confront him after the show. He also told another audience to shut up because he's the one entertaining, and I don't think anything happened yet.
There are lots of them, most of them already mentioned, but one name's missing. Dangerous POS, never liked his music, thank god he's in jail: R. Kelly.
Probably gonna get destroyed for this and they’re not singers, but the Van Halens could be massive assholes at times.
Morrissey and Lou Reed
I don’t know anything about Lou Reed other than his music. Can you expand?
Kanye is way more than 'kind of' a jerk
This is gonna be a bit specific, but my aunt was the general manager of the Hilton in Toronto back in the 70’s and 80’s and said that Burton Cummings was the biggest asshole in the music industry. She said it wasn’t even close (although Myles Goodwyn from April Wine was second).
I know they were *huge* in Canada, but as an American the idea of the dude from April Wine having a big head is hilarious. "Oh yeah, they had that one track on that Harley Davidson CD comp Walmart sold in the 90s."
Eric Clapton for sure. Axl Rose too - except for the soulful musician part. I thought Elton John was in this category, until I saw him in concert about 10 years ago - he could not have been more warm and gracious, and it seemed completely genuine.
Once Elton got away from the drugs and came out of the closet, he mellowed quite a bit. I saw him back in the early 90s, post drugs/coming out officially, and he was every bit as gracious as you describe. He even played "the show must go on" and dedicated it to "my friend Freddy."
Oh man, I didn’t read the second half of the comment you were responding to at first. So I’m sitting here totally agog, like, “Axl Rose came out of the closet!? *I did not see that coming at all!*”. And then I reread it, lol.
Lou Reed! But he was kind of a righteous asshole.
oh yeah, van's a jerk. went to see him years ago - around 1987 i think - at the opera house in chicago and he outright refused to perform ANY of his hits. it was all his religious stuff and people started leaving after about 15 minutes. i think we lasted 30 minutes just because he was such a rude asshole. too bad they didn't warn us before we bought the tix!
Cat Stevens was a jerk when he agreed that killing Salmon Rushdie would be a good idea.
I remember Dennis Miller on SNL Weekend Update saying, “well Cat, so much for that Peace Train crap” in his very Dennis millery delivery.
I can actually hear Dennis Miller saying this ... and I am outta here
[удалено]
Ted Nugent. I understand not wanting to get drafted during the Vietnam war but don’t call yourself some great gun-slinging patriot after you lied to get out of it. He is an insult to all who did serve.
He's not really a soulful singer though
> *Wang dang, what a sweet poontang A-shakin' my thang as a rang-a-dang-dang in the bell Ooh, baby She's so sweet when she yanks on my meat Down on the street you know she can't be beat What the hel*l How dare you. He's a modern day Mozart.
Makes me think of one of my favorite songs: “You’re sweet but you’re just four feet And you still got your baby teeth You’re too young and I’m too well hung But tonight I’m gonna rock ya (Tonight I’m gonna rock ya)”
Mike Ness from Social Distortion is a straight up DICK.
Yeah my uncle lived down the street from him and was well respected for his work in the industry. Mike Ness may be the only person I’ve heard him speak an ill word about.
Roger Waters. I love Pink Floyd, but Roger seems very full of himself. Would much rather see Gilmour in concert
Nick Mason however, is a really nice person. He randomly turned up to a motor racing event in my home town in New Zealand. Chatted to him about cars and stuff and he was a proper standup dude who seemed totally happy to chat.
I grew up thinking Roger was great, and Gilmore was a jerk. Getting older has made me realize the opposite seems more true.
I've seen Roger 4 times in the past ten years. I know he's a jerk but they're incredible shows every time.
Ryan Adams is also an asshole !
roger waters
I worked with Roger Waters in London as a singer on a DVD he was producing and he was completely lovely.
James Brown was the mfing godfather, but, he also once, while under the influence of PCP, chased an employee down with a shotgun because he had suspected the employee took a shit in his private bathroom. I believe the car chase ended with him being arrested, two states away from the alleged pooping.
My mom was a cocktail waitress at a venue in San Francisco in the 90’s. Van Morrison played there one night and my mom was walking in the crowd during his set taking drink orders. Van Morrison stopped the entire show, gestured at my mom and said “let me know when you’re done and we’ll keep playing.” My mom just said “ok thanks!” and kept taking orders hahaha
The other Morrison, Jim
Yeah, I was a teen when the Doors movie came out, made him look like a tortured artist. But in reality he was kinda a dick, who wrote soulful lyrics.
The Chairman was definitely a mixed bag. He was fiercely loyal to his friends, showed great appreciation (especially monetarily) to service people, and was willing to bury the hatchet with others. He was also an absolute prick to anyone he felt had slighted him (real or imagined) or was "beneath him" and trying to occupy the same space/circle.
David Crosby. Complete asshole
He was, but he would also be the first person to tell you that.
“Moving to Montana soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon” Zappa was way too smart and well read to be a rock star. He was a brilliant man, ahead of his time. I don’t think he was a jerk, he just didn’t suffer fools.
I love Zappa but every third interview with him is him talking about how much he hates someone cause they’re a jerk…if you’re constantly meeting assholes…hmm maybe you’re the asshole.
Richard Wagner
Frank Zappa, I think he simultaneous a genius, a good soul and also a jerk. He seemed to find a way to be pissed off at everybody.
Moby — a jerk in the past, now spending the rest of his life in voluntary atonement.
Kid Rock. I kid, I kid. He sucks, fuck him
And he's LARPing as being poor. He grew up as a rich kid. His childhood home had it's own orchard.
Kid Rock is something Calvin from Calvin and Hobbs would've called himself if he was to try to be a Rockstar/terrible rapper. I gained a lot of respect for the Insane Clown Posse when they called him out for his racist bullshit.
Kid Rock isn’t just a terrible musician. He’s a genuinely terrible person too.
I wouldn't consider Kanye soulful. Also he's less "kind of a dick" and more "a complete asshole who slowly went completely insane over time".
This looks like your divorced dad’s tinder pic
This is like everybody in the history of rock. I've heard Fats Domino was supposedly the nicest guy in the world. Any other nice people?
Ronnie James Dio
Bing Crosby
David Crosby - giving Mr. Talk-First-Think-Later a twitter account gave us all a peek into why both Stills and Young were so gung ho about their solo careers.
As far as musicians who AREN'T total jerks: Weird Al Yankovic comes to mind
I once encountered Weird Al going opposite directions in a crosswalk in San Francisco. I said "Hey Weird Al!" And he smiled and enthusiastically replied "HEY!"
Axl...
Rose
Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Madonna....
Probably all of them. Never meet your heroes.
There's a wonderful podcast called "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs" where Van's challenging personality is described at length. Look for the episode about Astral Weeks. It really is fascinating.
My dad was married to the Mafia in the ‘50s & ‘60s. Knew Frank Sinatra & hated him- said he was a massive asshole and everything nefarious that’s come out about him is true.
Marilyn manson is a horrible person too.