welcome to watch mojo and today we're
counting down
our picks for the top 10 musicians who
turn down crazy deals
for this list we're looking at popular
musicians and bands who turned their
backs on extremely lucrative offers
let us know what you would have said to
these deals in the comments
number 10 ja rule in 2017
jawrul made headlines for his role in
the disastrous fire festival
which definitely left a dent in his
reputation
however this entry is about a much
earlier decision he may regret
the popular rapper had a minor film role
in 2001's the fast and the furious for
which he was reportedly paid
fifteen thousand dollars when it came
time for the sequel
too fast too furious he was offered the
role of ted
parker and would have been paid half a
million dollars but according to
director john singleton
jaw rule thought he was too big for the
sequel and declined
wait a second wait a second why don't i
just find y'all a fourth and we settle
this on the streets huh
bring him on anybody i want he was
replaced by ludacris
given the numerous sequels jaw rule
likely turned down a lot more than five
hundred thousand dollars i'll see you
about your money
number nine lady gaga gaga was at the
peak of her fame in the early 2010s
riding high on the success of her debut
and sophomore albums the fame
and born this way in 2012 she was
reportedly
courted by the american action network
to perform at the 2012 republican
national convention
the advocacy group wanted to offer her 1
million dollars and
donate 150 000 to a domestic violence
shelter in return
however gaga presumably turned the offer
down
no surprise considering her own
political views and more liberal fanbase
journey and leonard skinner took her
place the rnc distanced themselves from
the idea
stating that it had been all the
american action networks
number eight nle chapa after the video
for this rapper's first single shot of
flow went viral in 2019
major record labels saw green they
embarked on a bidding war that went as
high as
3 million dollars however chapa turned
down the multi-million dollar offers
choosing instead to keep his master
recordings and sign with a private
distributor called united masters
it was through this label that chapa
released his debut ep
cottonwood in december 2019. however
choppa has since partnered with warner
records who released his single wacom
down with roddy rich
number 7. chance the rapper here's
another rapper who loves his creative
freedom
chance has made a name for himself
thanks to his popular mixtapes including
acid rap and coloring book
which won the best rap album award at
the 2017 grammys
chance has repeatedly denied the chance
to sign with a major record label
preferring his autonomy over conforming
to a stringent record deal
the exact amounts are not known but one
can safely assume that chance has been
offered some big bucks
especially with three grammys under his
belt even his debut album the big day
was entirely self-produced and
self-released albeit to a rather
negative reception
number six the smiths when the smiths
released their last album in 1987 they'd
actually already broken up due to the
continued animosity between vocalist
morrissey
and guitarist johnny marr however that
doesn't mean that fans gave up on the
possibility of a reunion
even decades later despite morrissey's
steadfast and vocal opposition to the
idea in interviews coachella was keen
enough to offer the band
5 million dollars to reunite and perform
the band
obviously turned the lucrative offer
down with morrissey saying
quote money doesn't come into it easy
for the man worth 50 million dollars to
say
number five slash guns n roses was one
of the biggest rock bands of the 80s and
90s
thanks to the multi-platinum albums
appetite for destruction
gnr lies and use your illusion axel rose
knew how big they could be
and reportedly turned down an early
offer of fifty thousand dollars to leave
and joined another band
instead decades later slash was
declining money to return to the band
and a lot more than fifty thousand
dollars slash told gq that he had
repeatedly declined
excessive seven eight-digit kinds of
offers to reunite with guns and roses
however it seems like slash eventually
came around as he officially rejoined
the band in 2016 to embark on the
ironically named
not in this lifetime tour number four
rihanna cardi b and jay-z maroon 5's
performance at the super bowl 53
halftime show received
largely negative reviews with critics
arguing that the nfl was playing things
too safe
at the time the nfl was in the middle of
a controversy involving player
colin kaepernick who famously kneeled
during national anthems to protest
police brutality and racial inequality
numerous musicians turned down the offer
to perform at that year's super bowl
including rihanna cardi b and jay-z they
declined the offer as a show of
solidarity
with rihanna saying i just couldn't be a
sellout i couldn't be
an enabler number three the doors
jim morrison was adamant that the door's
music would not be used in
advertisements
for him it was a principle of artistic
integrity
to not sell out for a quick buck the
story goes that back in 1967
the doors were offered 75 thousand
dollars by buick to use light my fire in
an opal commercial
morrison vehemently declined even now
decades after his death
the surviving members of the doors fight
over the commercial use of their music
drummer john densmore has tried to keep
morrison's artistic integrity alive
and it's estimated that the band has
declined nearly 20 million dollars in
deals
number 2 franz ferdinand this indie rock
band was especially big in 2004
winning the mercury prize and earning
the top spot on the village voices
famous paz and job poll with their
single take me out
at the height of their musical power a
couple of years later the band was
approached by an
unnamed company who wanted to use their
music for an ad campaign
they were willing to spend 50 million
dollars on the campaign with a
non-insubstantial portion going to the
band
it was also estimated that the campaign
would quadruple the sales of their album
you could have it so much better however
franz ferdinand turned the mystery
company down
stating we had to surrender all of our
identity and integrity to this product
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number one the beatles this band was a
worldwide phenomenon
so naturally lorne michaels offered them
a whopping three thousand dollars to
reunite on saturday night live
we're just kidding lauren's offer was
meant as a joke and our actual number
one
involves a lot more money number one
abba this offer may sound like a joke
but it was anything but
abba was incredibly popular in the 70s
and they have remained relevant
throughout the years thanks to their
insanely catchy tunes
not to mention the success of mamma mia
it used to be
so nice it used to be so good
the play debuted on west end in 1999 to
rave reviews and
great success and a consortium saw
potential
they offered the band a frankly
unbelievable 1 billion dollars to
reunite and tour for 100 shows across
the world
or 250 according to agni at the feltzkog
and while benny anderson admits that
it's a hell of a lot of money to say no
to
the band decided against it sometimes
you just have to let your legacy speak
for itself
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