Which bands broke up because a group member died, and which broke up just because they
couldn't stand each other anymore?
Here's a few of the rock bands you might not have known broke up this century.
Formed in 1991 in the United Kingdom, Oasis released numerous hits, including three platinum
albums in the United States.
With tracks like "Don't Look Back In Anger" and "Wonderwall," they seemed hell-bent on
being the spiritual successor to the Beatles -– all the drug use and the rivalry between
bandmates included.
In fact, Noel and Liam Gallagher's sibling rivalry is perhaps more famous than the band's
music.
Over the years, the two have engaged in everything from petty arguments to fistfights, eventually
culminating in Liam taking to Twitter to caption photos of his brother with the word "potato."
The band was doomed to end eventually, considering that Noel had quit the band on numerous occasions.
The final nail in the coffin finally slammed into place when Noel walked out before a performance
in Paris in 2009.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, a violent outburst unleashed by Liam before the band
went on stage prompted Noel to quit on the spot.
Noel told Jonathan Ross that he could be talked into a reunion for the right price, though.
"If anybody wants to offer me a hundred million pounds now, I'll say it now, I'll do it.
I'll do it for a hundred million."
It all started when a quiet country girl auditioned for some city boys in Limerick, Ireland, back
in 1989.
The boys knew instantly they had gained their new frontwoman, and a brilliant songwriter.
The Cranberries captured the airwaves with lead singer Dolores O'Riordan's unforgettable
voice on songs like "Linger" and "Dreams."
Within months of releasing, their debut album, "Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can't
We?"
stole the number one slot in both Ireland and the U.K.
Despite taking multiple breaks throughout their 30-year run, The Cranberries always
came back with strong material and incorporated new flavors into their sound.
However, tragedy struck in 2018, as the BBC reported O'Riordan was found dead in her hotel
room.
She had died from accidental drowning due to alcohol intoxication.
Following her passing, the surviving members announced one final album, "In The End," composed
of songs O'Riordan recorded before her death.
They officially disbanded in 2019.
One might not think it's possible to blend jazz with heavy metal, but then the Dillinger
Escape Plan arrived on the scene.
They took heavy metal to new heights with their chaotic hardcore drum patterns and jumpy,
swinging time signatures.
The shows were often legendary – according to Rolling Stone, they fought fans, got bloody
on stage, and were banned from the U.K. after singer Greg Puciato defecated on stage at
the Reading Festival.
The band saw its share of rotating musicians come and go, but the relationship between
Puciato and guitarist Ben Weinman is part of what may have killed the music.
Puciato was known for his wild antics and drug use in contrast to Weinman's calmer demeanor.
Internal struggles are par for the course in the industry, and Puciato and Weinman fought
frequently.
In an interview with Louder Sound, Weinman said a songwriting break led him to feel like
the band had achieved all it could creatively, and the band agreed to part ways in 2016.
Weinman has since opened an animal sanctuary.
In 2016, somewhere off Ocean Avenue, fans of famed emo band Yellowcard sobbed the salty
tears of disbelief, mourning their disbandment.
Much of these Florida men's career came from riding the success of their debut album, "Ocean
Avenue," and getting their work featured on several video game soundtracks.
If you played "Madden NFL 2004," there's no doubt you heard their song "Way Away."
But Yellowcard's sound evolved over the years from pop-punk to the biting alt-rock that
closed out their final self-titled album.
It seems that after 10 studio albums and performing live in each corner of the planet, the members
had simply burned out.
According to Alt Press, lead singer Ryan Key admitted,
"I think between putting out so much music and touring our asses off for the past five
or six years, it hasn't been hard to make that choice [to disband]."
Along with their contemporaries Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeth, Slayer eschewed the hair metal
acts of the 1980s and helped define thrash metal as we know it today.
Slayer produced 12 studio albums, won two Grammys, and even had their own exhibit in
the Smithsonian at one point.
They weathered their fair share of controversies too: in the early years, pearl-clutching parents
assumed they promoted Satanism, racism, and Nazism, among other things.
Unfortunately, Slayer suffered the tragedy of losing band member Jeff Hanneman, who died
from liver failure in 2013.
Several years earlier, frontman Tom Araya had needed surgery to insert pins to fuse
vertebrae in his neck after a lifetime of aggressive headbanging.
All good things must come to an end though, and in 2018, after nearly 30 years on the
heavy metal scene, Slayer announced their farewell tour.
In 2019 they officially disbanded — a move that co-founder Kerry King regrets.
"We quit too early."
"I hate f—ing not playing."
Coming all the way from Finland in 1991, H.I.M.
infused romance with a heavy gothic aesthetic in their debut album "Greatest Love Songs
Vol. 666."
Classic tracks include "Vampire Heart," "Wicked Game," and "Killing Loneliness" — each one
masterfully blending seductive vocals with weighty dark guitars.
When their original drummer, Gas Lipstick, quit in 2015, it marked the beginning of the
end.
Lipstick released a statement on his Facebook stating that he bore his bandmates no ill
will.
He wrote,
"I simply feel that it's time for me to move on as a musician."
In February 2017, the members gathered at a pub in Helsinki to talk about their future.
Singer Ville Valo told Louder that the band was losing its ambition, and the spark that
guided them 26 years through the industry had, quote, "gone somewhere else."
It seems the split was amicable with its members feeling they had reached their logical end.
Valo has since moved on to a new solo career under the name VV.
Not everyone can carry on after the death of a bandmate, and singer Peter Steele was
a larger-than-life character that was impossible to replace.
Formed in 1989 out of Brooklyn, New York, Type O Negative took the raw power behind
thrash metal, slowed it down, and enchanted listeners with Peter Steele's dark, velvety
singing.
Lyrically, T.O.N.'s songs often evoked feelings of despair as they explored dark themes with
a hint of sardonic humor and sarcasm.
They used to call themselves "The Drab Four," a joke referencing The Beatles' upbeat tunes.
"This is just something that we do to get rid of stress and pain."
Highlights from their catalog include "Black No. 1," a song poking fun at the pretentiousness
of goths in the late 1980s, and "Christian Woman," a song inspired by a romantic encounter
Steele once had.
Unfortunately, Steele died at 48 in April 2010 from sepsis due to diverticulitis, leaving
fans in a state of disbelief.
The remaining band members, Kenny Hickey, Josh Silver, and Johnny Kelly, decided that
they couldn't continue on after the loss of one of goth metal's most iconic figures.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were powerhouses of ska-punk who were famously featured in
the 1995 movie "Clueless," Unfortunately, the men who brought us catchy hits like "The
Impression I Get" are no longer making music.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones made the announcement on their Facebook page in January 2022.
The Bosstones formed a group back in the early 1980s in Boston when ska was seeing a third-wave
revolution.
Their sound was best described by the Tampa Bay Times as, quote, "​​the mutant spawn
of Madness and Motorhead."
No specific reason was given for the split, but according to Rolling Stone, it was partly
due to frontman Dicky Barrett allegedly writing a song for an anti-vaxxer rally sponsored
by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Before "alternative rock" was a clear designation, and years before Nirvana took grunge mainstream,
left-of-center guitar music was called college rock, and R.E.M.
made it accessible to the masses.
With Peter Buck's complicated and jangly riffs and inscrutable lyrics delivered in the angelic
howl of Michael Stipe, R.E.M.
provided the soundtrack of a generation while also scoring massive hits like "Losing My
Religion" and "Everybody Hurts."
The demise of a band as archetypal as R.E.M.
may take awhile, and that's what transpired.
In 1997, the core four of R.E.M.
lost one of its founding members when drummer Bill Berry quit the group.
Two years earlier, he had endured a ruptured aneurysm during a performance in Switzerland.
He issued a statement to Rolling Stone saying that the experience had shifted his priorities,
saying,
"I loved my 17 years with R.E.M.
but I'm ready to move on to a different phase of my life."
Other drummers played with R.E.M.
on record and on tour for the next 14 years, until the band decided together to move on
entirely in 2011.
Stipe, Buck, and bassist Mike Mills said in a website statement,
"As lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band.
[...] We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we
have accomplished."
"I gave everything that I had to it, I gave myself completely.
And I just needed to step away for a while."
With so much explosive sound coming from just two people, the White Stripes simply could
not be ignored.
Consisting of guitarist and singer Jack White and drummer Meg White, the duo busted out
of the Detroit music scene with their blues-punk mashups and brought indie rock back to the
mainstream.
They were hailed as the saviors of 2000s rock, responsible for classic tracks like "Fell
in Love with a Girl," "Seven Nation Army," and "Blue Orchid."
The White Stripes released albums at a rapid clip in the late '90s and early 2000s, churning
out six studio LPs in eight years.
The writing on the wall regarding the band's future was clear when Jack and Meg White then
went four years without releasing any new material.
In 2011, the duo told fans what they'd probably already figured out: that the White Stripes'
moment had passed.
Jack and Meg White said in a statement on their website,
"The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health
issues.
It's for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about
the band and have it stay that way."
While Meg White left the music industry, Jack White went on to a fruitful solo career, winning
four Grammy Awards along the way.
Few bands were as successful in the '80s — or as inextricably linked to the decade — as
INXS.
Led by the whisper-to-a-scream vocals of teen idol lead singer Michael Hutchence and the
three musical Farriss brothers, the Australian band dominated the pop rock of the era.
With big worldwide hits like "What You Need," "Need You Tonight," "Devil Inside," and "New
Sensation," it seemed like they would be on top of the world forever.
Tragically, however, Hutchence was found dead in his hotel room at age 37.
20 years later, the band told 60 Minutes Australia it was the lowest of low points.
"One minute we were rehearsing playing music with Michael, and then a few days later, we
were in the same room, the gear's gone, and we were rehearsing carrying his coffin."
The rest of INXS soldiered on: they eventually hired J.D.
Fortune as their lead singer, but they never recaptured their earlier success.
After more than three decades, 12 albums, millions of records sold, and continuing for
more than 15 years after losing its charismatic lead singer, INXS decided it was time to disappear
in 2012.
After announcing on stage at a concert in Perth, Australia, that it would be their last
performance together, the remaining band members issued a joint statement that read in part,
"It's time to step away.
We understand that this must come as a blow to everybody, but all things must eventually
come to an end."
French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter teamed up in 1993 for
a project that would explore pop, rock, and dance music through the lens of electronic
instrumentation.
They called themselves Daft Punk, and they quickly became a sensation on the European
house music scene before breaking into the mainstream in the late 1990s with hits including
"Around the World" and "Da Funk."
Daft Punk recognized the importance of imagery in modern music.
In addition to producing visually stunning music videos to go along with their songs,
the duo never appeared or performed without their shiny, metallic, robotic helmets.
Befitting a band who incorporated cinematic visuals into their act, Daft Punk announced
its split with a dramatic and baffling short film called "Epilogue."
Having not released a full-length album since 2013's Grammy winning "Random Access Memories,"
Daft Punk shared an eight-minute chunk of its 2006 film "Electroma" in early 2021.
In the video, two robots wander into the desert and one of them explodes, leading to the on-screen
epitaph, "1993–2021."
The band's representative, Kathryn Frazier, confirmed to Rolling Stone that this video
announcement was, in fact, a breakup statement.
Serving as a bridge from the hippie-laden late '60s into the introspective singer-songwriter
days of the '70s, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were one of rock's first supergroups.
David Crosby of the Byrds, Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield, and Graham Nash from
the Hollies were a collective, harmonizing powerhouse often joined by mercurial superstar
Neil Young.
They released a number of iconic hits, including "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Teach Your Children."
The last time all four members played together was a benefit concert in October 2013.
Since then, severe internal bickering seems to have ruled out any kind of reunion in the
future.
Personality conflicts have weighed on the band for years, ultimately leading to a split
in 2016 after Crosby publicly insulted Young's girlfriend.
Young isn't the only one with an ax to grind: Nash made it abundantly clear in interviews
that he can't stand one former bandmate in particular.
He told Lust for Life,
"I don't like David Crosby right now.
He's been awful for me the last two years, just f***ing awful.
I've been there and saved his f***ing a** for 45 years, and he treated me like s***."
Just in case those comments didn't quite register, Nash re-iterated to Billboard:
"Right now, I don't want anything to do with Crosby at all.
It's just that simple.
In my world there will never, ever be a Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young record."
Black Sabbath led a rock revolution in the early 1970s, taking traditional blues-based
rhythms and instrumentation and making it dark, spooky, menacing, and very, very loud.
Fronted by none other than Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath are synonymous with heavy metal,
inspiring millions to head bang along to ragers like "Iron Man" and "War Pigs."
The band had a lot of changes from the late '70s onward, with a troubled Osbourne frequently
coming in and out of Black Sabbath's lineup while maintaining a solo career.
Still, the band managed to carry on for nearly 50 years.
In 2017, though, Black Sabbath returned to their hometown of Birmingham, England, for
a final farewell show.
Three out of four original members — Osbourne, guitarist Tommy Iommi [eye-OH-mee], and bassist
Geezer Butler — hit the stage.
Only drummer Bill Ward was missing, having left the group years earlier over a contractual
issue.
The evening was captured on what would be Black Sabbath's final release, "The End: Live
in Birmingham."
Despite rumblings from fans, Ozzy has told the BBC that done means done.
"This is definitely it."
A quintessential classic rock band, Golden Earring was one of the biggest and loudest
rock bands of its time.
Topping the charts in their native Netherlands from the '60s to the 2010s, Golden Earring
is best known in the United States and United Kingdom for the rock radio staple "Radar Love"
and the early MTV standout "Twilight Zone."
In 2018, Golden Earring won an official Guinness World Record: their classic four-man formation
had stayed intact since 1970, making it one of the longest-lasting unchanged lineups in
rock history.
In late 2020, after more than 50 years together, Golden Earring's reign finally came to a sad
end.
According to Dutch-language newspaper AD, guitarist George Kooymans told his bandmates
in late 2020 that he'd been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known
as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.
Kooymans confirmed,
"I am indeed ill.
Unfortunately, performing is no longer possible."
Without its guitarist of many decades alongside them, the rest of the band opted to end Golden
Earring altogether.
Golden Earring vocalist Barry Hay commented,
"We always said we would keep going until one of us fell over."
Born from the ashes of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden in 2001, on paper Audioslave
was destined for long-term collaborative genius, but the supergroup may have been doomed from
the start.
Not long after the band formed, lead singer Chris Cornell quit because he didn't like
the creative direction they were taking.
They eventually came back together, but if that wasn't an omen for their future, what
was?
Known for their gritty, heavy sound and post-grunge vocals, Audioslave had the distinct honor
of being one of the first American rock bands to perform in Cuba in 2005.
Their work spanned three albums and graced the airwaves with iconic singles like "Show
Me How to Live" and "Like a Stone."
The band closed shop in 2007 when Rage Against the Machine reunited briefly for the Coachella
music festival.
Cornell claimed that the reasons for his exit had to do with creative differences once again,
as well as personality clashes within the band.
Cornell described the band's dynamic as, quote, a "sociology experiment."
The band reunited briefly in 2017, but future projects were tragically cut short when Cornell
died from suicide.
Former members of Soundgarden and Audioslave, along with Dave Grohl and numerous other celebrities,
gathered for a five-hour concert in his honor in 2019.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Grunge videos about your favorite bands are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.