Dave Glover – Slade

It seems only fair to start in the most eye-popping place, with the story of how the 1970s glam rock icons were forced to give their former bassist Dave Glover the chop – only because he was attempting to marry one of the UK’s most notorious serial killers, as if that’s totally normal. It was in 2003, after the band had gone through their umpteenth line-up change, that they realised they’d made a rather big mistake.

That was because it emerged that Glover was engaged to Rosemary West. Yes, the one that’s among the country’s worst ever murderers and who is currently serving ten back-to-back prison sentences for her horrific crimes. Somehow, the bassist felt it would be alright if he married her. But perhaps unsurprisingly, the rest of the band sent him packing not long after the cat got out the bag.

Kim Shattuck – Pixies

You’ll be glad to know that all the other dismissal reasons are far less sinister, but still just as weird. Take the example of Kim Shattuck’s shunning from Pixies as the prime manifestation of that, because although they say there’s no better way of tackling your fears than jumping in at the deep end, it was literally this that got the bassist the sack.

It was a stint that wouldn’t exactly look great on her CV, because she lasted only six months in the pivotal Seattle grunge band, following the exit of Kim Deal in 2014, before she was shown the door. Although it was never fully confirmed, Shattuck claimed her reason for dismissal was that she performed a stage dive at a gig, hence proving she was different from the rest of the band. After all, she wasn’t like other girls.

Glen Matlock – Sex Pistols

By comparison, Glen Matlock seemed to get the sack precisely because he was a lot like everyone else. A decade prior to the Sex Pistols being at their punk height, you would have been damned if you ever dared to say you didn’t love The Beatles. But by the time the band were at the helm in the ‘70s, that was all part of the establishment, and had to be blasted.

It was claimed for a long time that Matlock had been fired from the band because he loved The Beatles, and although this may have been partially true, the man himself cited several aggravating reasons. Chief among them was that he would be slaughtered by his bandmates for often washing his feet, as if personal hygiene was also something to be rebelled against.

Richard Wright – Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd had pretty tetchy relations at the best of times, but particularly when the dynamics within the band were like chalk and cheese. The most famous spat was between David Gilmour and Roger Waters, but in reality, it was the tensions between the latter and Richard Wright that delivered the most painful, if petty, blow.

Essentially, without wanting to beat about the bush too much, Wright was fired because he was too happy. It might sound a blunt way of putting it, but considering Waters was known for being a dominating personality and perhaps a little intimidating, seeing someone bring a ray of sunshine into the room wouldn’t have been too pleasing. Tensions rose between the pair until Waters ultimately told Wright where to go in 1981.

Pete Best – The Beatles

Since Matlock was allegedly fired for liking The Beatles too much, he could potentially find a sympathiser in the form of Pete Best. The Beatles had many a musician come and go before the final Fab Four were fully confirmed, but for a man who was considered the greatest drummer in Liverpool, being fired by Brian Epstein was a pretty bitter pill to swallow.

In a way, it was kind of the world’s worst back-handed compliment, as the story went that Best was sent packing because he was too good-looking. With Epstein acting like the 1960s version of Louis Walsh, the words “You look like a pop star, you sound like a pop star” had to be true, but when it proved that Best was distracting the screaming girls from the main attraction of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, he had to go.