As the old saying goes, music has charms to soothe the savage breast.
Ironically, though, some of the most savage people around are the very musicians that
give us such wonderful music.
Sure, most singers are perfectly nice people, but some of the biggest stars in music are
also some of the biggest jerks around.
Here's a look at some respected musicians who were awful people.
Morrissey spews hate
After rising to fame as the lead singer of 80's sadsacks The Smiths, the man known as
Morrissey became even more famous for spouting a non-stop stream of garbage in the press.
Some of his biggest hits include telling The Guardian
"You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies,"
shrugging off a massacre that left 77 people as
"nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's […] every day,"
blaming Kate Middleton for the suicide of a nurse, and calling for Elton John's head
so he could serve it on a plate.
Morrissey was also dismissive of the sexual assault victims in the Harvey Weinstein scandal,
telling The Independent,
"I hate situations that are forced on someone.
But in many cases, one looks at the circumstances and thinks that the person who is considered
a victim is merely disappointed."
The Killer
Rock n' roll legend Jerry lee Lewis is famous for three things: his music, his violent temper,
and marrying his 13-year-old cousin, who was just the third of his seven wives.
Just how he got the nickname "The Killer" is unclear, though Lewis claims it has nothing
to do with the time he tried to strangle one of his teachers with a necktie.
It also predates the incident where he shot his own bass player in the chest, or the time
he showed up at Graceland drunk and waving a gun.
He swore he had no intention of harming anyone, but Elvis disagreed and called the police.
Can you really blame him?
The many sins of Miles Davis
Jazz legend Miles Davis redefined music itself.
But he also redefined what it means to be a misanthrope.
Some of his lesser offenses include his massive vanity, as the star would condemn critics
for praising other artists claiming they were just out to take away his spotlight.
Much more serious were the addictions.
In order to support his costly habits, Davis became a boss.
"You did a lot of bad things."
"Like what?"
"Well you said you were pimping for a while."
"Is that bad?"
And his addictions may have contributed to a lifetime of domestic violence and spousal
abuse.
Ex-wife Frances Davis has claimed she wasn't just terrified of him, she ran away a few
times convinced he was going to off her.
He admitted to the whole sordid trend of beating his wives in his autobiography, Miles, and
even admitted he approved of other men hitting their wives and girlfriends to keep them in
line.
Lead Belly's hard heart
Though he passed in 1949, the influence of blues pioneer Lead Belly lives on.
George Harrison once said,
"No Lead Belly, no Beatles."
And without him, rock and roll as we know it may never have existed.
Still, Lead Belly was a bad man.
Born Huddie Ledbetter in 1888, he did several stretches in jail, starting with 30 days on
a chain gang in 1915 for getting in a particularly violent fight.
Two years later he was arrested again, this time for offing his cousin's husband and nearly
offing another.
He was pardoned in 1925 but went back in jail in 1930, this time for a stabbing in what
Black History Now says was "assault with intent to off."
It was during this stint that he was discovered by a pair of musicologists who were recording
songs for the Smithsonian, and Lead Belly recorded hundreds for them.
The rest of his life was a combination of performing at venues of all sizes across the
country, and more time in jail.
There was another stabbing incident in 1939, assault in 1940 … you get the picture.
He was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease only months before he died from it, leaving
behind a very dark and complicated legacy.
Alexander Scriabin dances with the devil
Alexander Scriabin was a Russian composer who was touched by both genius and madness.
After becoming interested in religious philosophy and the occult, he became more and more convinced
he was destined to change the world … and by "change," he meant "bring about the end
times."
He started writing a massive composition called the Mysterium, which Gramophone says he envisioned
as a weeklong multi-media event including music, dance, lights, poetry, perfumes and
incenses that would be performed once in the Himalayan Mountains.
He hoped the performance would trigger the apocalypse, and that humanity would be replaced
by "nobler beings."
After fiddling with the work for over a decade, though, his plans were thwarted in the most
anti-climactic way possible in 1915: He cut himself shaving, got infected, and passed.