The five most bizarre feuds in music history
It seems that wherever rock ‘n’ roll goes, contention follows closely behind. There have always been rivalries within music, such as those between The Beatles and The Beach Boys, which often lead to music being released in direct retaliation to a band’s rivals and some harsh words said in the press.
Feuds in music are usually the direct result of jealousy or the fact that bands are relatively similar. They lead to rivalry as one constantly tries to outdo the other and becomes frustrated if they are seen as the lesser of the two. We are seeing these kinds of feuds almost every other day, and given how competitive the creative industry can be, it’s hardly a surprise that they exist.
That being said, there are other feuds out there that don’t make quite as much sense. Sometimes, the issue is not related to music. On other occasions, the argument isn’t prompted by anything and seems totally random. Finally, some feuds feel petty and inconsistent compared to what has previously been said about artists.
There are far too many strange feuds in the music industry to recount, but these are five of the strangest that you should know about.
The five strangest feuds in music history:
Prince vs Michael Jackson
A lot of Prince and Micheal Jackson’s famous feud comes from the fact that the two of them were such big pop icons. When you’re at the top of your game and are both praised for pop ingenuity, it’s hardly a surprise that some rivalry will form. However, what was so bizarre about it was that the feud came to a huge climax in 2009 when the two played ping pong.
Prince’s former sound engineer, David Z, remembers the heated game of ping pong that the two of them had. Prince won the game, and allegedly, Michael Jackson didn’t take it very well. “Michael drops his paddle and holds his hands up in front of his face so the ball won’t hit him,” recalled Z, “Michael walks out with his bodyguard, and Prince starts strutting around like a rooster. ‘Did you see that? He (Jackson) played like Helen Keller.’”
Liam Gallagher vs Jon Bon Jovi
As one of the biggest hotheads in music, Liam Gallagher is hardly unfamiliar with a good feud. He has had some famous rivalries over the years, one of the most famous of which was with Blur, which led to a famous chart battle. However, one of his most petty rivalries came from his ongoing feud with Jon Bon Jovi.
Gallagher got Bon Jovi’s number and decided to make a new habit of prank phone-calling him. “Sometimes he would call me the bastard son of Richard Branson, and other times he would shout ‘Lionhead’ down the phone until I hung up,” said Bon Jovi, “In the end, I offered to pay him $500,000 and begged him to stop. He told me to ‘Eat shit’…”
Eddie Van Halen vs Fred Durst
You might never expect to see these two names together; however, when the rap-metal and guitar-tapping legends came face to face, it led to a devastating rivalry. The two were jamming, and Eddie Van Halen left, leaving his guitar at the jam session. The next day, he tried calling Fred Durst to arrange to pick the guitar up but didn’t get a reply. This led to the Van Halen guitarist driving a tank around Fred Durst’s house and threatening him.
“He got out wearing no shirt, his hair in a Samurai bun on top of his head, his jeans held up with a strand of rope and combat boots held together by duct tape,” wrote biographer Andrew Bennett, “And he had a gun in his hand.” Naturally, his guitar was returned relatively quickly after this.
Queen vs Sex Pistols
Rock stars are known to have famously fragile egos, and nobody seems to prove this consistently more than John Lydon. The punk icon who famously fronted Sex Pistols started a feud with Queen after Freddie Mercury made one of his famously sarcastic comments towards the band, and this seemed to rattle on for years.
“One afternoon when Queen were working in the control room, Sid Vicious stumbled in, the worse for wear, and addressed Fred: ‘Have you succeeded in bringing ballet to the masses yet?’ (A reference to a quote Fred had made in the music press),” wrote Peter Hince, a longtime roadie for Queen, “Fred casually got up, walked over to him and quipped: ‘Aren’t you Stanley Ferocious or something?’, took him by the collar and threw him out. So much for the mean edge of punk.”
Noel Gallagher vs Dave Grohl
The feud between these two rock legends is bizarre for two reasons. The first is Noel Gallagher’s love for Kurt Cobain but apparent hate towards his bandmates. Gallagher has gone on record praising the Nirvana frontman, but that same attitude apparently doesn’t apply to the bandmates who helped him rise to the levels that he did. “Dave Grohl, what is he all about?” Asked Gallagher, “It’s kind of like rock has killed rock and roll.”
The second strange aspect of this feud is one of Dave Grohl’s comebacks. While he has jabbed at Gallagher and Oasis a couple of times in interviews, they decided to make Oasis a focal point of their headlining set at Leeds and Readings Festival in 2019. Taylor Hawkins covered his kick drum with a photo of Liam and Noel during their Oasis era, and Grohl asked, “How many people wanna see Oasis fucking play a show?” Apparently, I’m taking a dig at the brother’s separate solo careers.
