Bands break up all the time and the 2010s were no exception.
Some bands split up in a manner so strange, dramatic, or just plain shocking that the
mere memory of it makes fans cringe.
Let's take a look at some of the most devastating band break ups of the past decade.
Every generation has its own boy band, and for the kids who were the right age between
2010 and 2015, the undisputed king of boy bands was One Direction.
In 2015, however, the dream ended, not with a bang, but with a whimper.
After Zayn Malik announced he was leaving the band, the remaining members decided to
relaunch as a four piece and record a new album.
Later that year, One Direction stopped by The Late Late Show with James Corden and talked
about Malik's departure.
"If you don't like your job and you gotta follow your heart sometimes and go where you
need to go, there’s no arguing with that.
Like I say, we were angry at first but then it was just a bit more disappointed."
Unfortunately, fans would be even more disappointed when One Direction announced that the band
was going on hiatus.
While the group has never technically broken up, or rather, they've stated that their "break"
is not necessarily permanent, it certainly seems that at least some of the band members
have had enough of each other.
According to the BBC, the group quietly dissolved their touring company in 2018, and as Cosmopolitan
notes, various One Direction members have thrown plenty of shade at each other since
Malik exited the group.
So, while money is a powerful motivator that may one day facilitate a lucrative Backstreet
Boys-style reunion, or at least a Spice Girls-style tour every once in a while, for now it seems
that One Direction has reached the end of the road.
My Chemical Romance was one of the most popular emo bands on the scene.
Then in 2013, the group suddenly announced that it was splitting up, but the reason for
the breakup seemed a bit unclear.
As NME tells us, none of the members really wanted the group to end, and they were quite
distraught about the fact that it was happening.
Nevertheless, everyone agreed that the best thing they could do was move on.
Band leader Gerard Way commented,
"It was time.
I think because it was so special and it was such an amazing thing...to keep going and
let it rust out on the rails?
That was not the way that band was supposed to go out."
In 2014, Way said that despite releasing four studio albums, the most organic ending for
the band could have been even sooner, after their third effort, The Black Parade.
"To go beyond that felt like betraying some sort of artistic command that I had within
myself."
As Kerrang! notes, laying My Chemical Romance to rest was neither quite as noble nor permanent
an undertaking as Way's comments made it seem.
In 2019, the band played a much-rumored comeback show and announced a slew of upcoming tour
dates.
Way also elaborated on the reasons they broke up in the first place.
In the end, it was all about pressure: When the band became extremely successful, everyone
suddenly started to "have an opinion" about what they should have been, and Way and his
bandmates simply found this too much and couldn't tackle all the stress.
Fans are praying that this second coming of My Chemical Romance will be a lasting one
and that the group will stick around to lead many more black parades.
As Rolling Stone tells us, the world lost one of history's most popular alternative
acts in 2011 when R.E.M. announced they would split up after 31 years in the game.
While it's not out of the ordinary for band members to explore other walks of life after
over three decades together, the breakup of R.E.M. was almost shocking in its sheer amicability.
In fact, the band members themselves seemed rather surprised how naturally the split came.
After they finished their last album, Collapse into Now, the group realized that its songs
seemed like a good way to wrap up their career, so that's precisely what they did.
They remained on great terms throughout the closing of the door and are still friendly
today.
At the time, bassist Mike Mills described the band's mindset to Rolling Stone...
"We feel kind of like pioneers in this.
There's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off.
We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart.
The time just feels right."
In recent years, members of R.E.M. have all said that the band ended at the right time.
Michael Stipe echoed this sentiment on England's Andrew Marr Show…
“I wanted to preserve the legacy of what we had created and spent 32 years of our lives
working on.
I did not want it to drag down to us in our mid-50s going on tour."
Although there wasn't any negative feelings between the band members, there was at least
some animosity bubbling under the surface.
As Billboard writes, guitarist Peter Buck eventually revealed that the main reason he
wanted to hang it up was that he had grown sick and tired of the music industry, and
wanted nothing to do with it anymore.
Despite Buck's frustration with the industry, fans can look back proudly on R.E.M.'s final
act, knowing that the band members were still friends when they turned out the lights.
The White Stripes had been on hiatus for several years before they finally broke up in 2011.
The official announcement about the duo of Jack and Meg White made it clear that both
musicians were on good terms and in fine health, but the band was calling it quits.
Their record label released a statement that only spelled out one major motivation for
the break up...
"It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special
about the band [and] have it stay that way."
The announcement ended with a personal note from the group that thanked the fans and left
them with this thought...
"The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore.
The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want."
It sounds like a very amiable breakup but were things really that cozy between Jack
and Meg?
According to Digital Spy and Rolling Stone, Jack has said that he doesn't really have
any idea why they broke up and the decision was instigated by Meg who didn't elaborate
on her decision.
But that shouldn't be surprising, since she is known for being very soft spoken.
By 2014, the two were rarely in contact, partly due to Meg's reclusive personality.
Jack has stated that the chance for their reunion is pretty much impossible.
However, it must be said that Meg almost certainly didn't break up the band out of malice, seeing
as she suffers from "acute anxiety," which caused them to end a tour early in 2007.
Being one half of a world-famous band can be extremely stressful, especially for someone
with such a gentle nature.
It should also be noted that Jack has continually said kind things about Meg and praised her
contributions to the band.
While Meg was probably relieved to step out of the spotlight, Jack has never left it.
In addition to a successful solo career, he's also a member of The Raconteurs with Brendan
Benson and he plays drums with The Dead Weather.
Somehow, he still finds time to collaborate with the biggest names in the business, and
give them advice…
"I don't understand it, Kermit, why do you let your friends rattle you so much?
I mean, you LOVE Miss Piggy.”
“I know I do, but it’s a tricky situation, Jack."
There have been plenty of rock bands with married couples performing side by side.
While some of them get divorced and continue to play in the same group, others end their
marriage and their band at the same time.
Such was the fate of Sonic Youth, the beloved alt-rock band that imploded in 2011 when its
leading figures, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, decided to get a divorce.
This was an especially hard blow to fans because Gordon and Moore always seemed to be a functional
example of a lasting rock and roll relationship.
They weren't like a "Sid and Nancy" on a collision course with disaster.
Gordon and Moore seemed to be artistic partners with a rewarding career and a tight-knit family.
They even appeared with their daughter, Coco, on an episode of Gilmore Girls.
However, it later transpired that the marriage ended because of Moore's infidelity, which
placed much of the blame on his shoulders in the eyes of the public, and certainly in
the eyes of Gordon, who described the events quite bluntly in her memoir, Girl in a Band.
Moore, on the other hand, says he wanted to keep the band going, and finds it strange
that he's the one being "demonized" over their split.
But under the circumstances, most people understand one hundred percent why Gordon decided to
move on with her personal life and career.
In 2011, indie rock band Rilo Kiley broke up after 13 years.
While the general reason for this appeared to be your average "band members not getting
along anymore" sort of deal, this particular break-up turned graphic thanks to guitar player
Blake Sennett, who had some interesting commentary about the situation.
According to Rolling Stone, Sennett didn't exactly think highly of his bandmates…
"I just felt like there was a lot of deception, disloyalty, greed and things I don't really
want to submit myself to.
I had related that frustration to music but I just thought, 'I'm not going to put myself
in that position again.'"
Sennett didn't elaborate on which particular band member, or members, he was talking about
or discuss any specific incidents that prompted such negative feelings.
Curiously, the other members of Rilo Kiley didn't comment on the situation.
For a while, it seemed that they might just keep going without Sennett, but, alas, they
called it a day.
The breakup might have been tough on some members of the band but it allowed frontwoman
Jenny Lewis more time to focus on her acclaimed solo career.
And despite the harsh words, Lewis has not ruled out the possibility of a Rilo Kiley
reunion.
When asked specifically by NME if she would consider getting the band back together, Lewis
had this surprising response…
"I'm open to anything these days.”
"Hm.
So never say never."
"My mantra is, 'Yes!'"
Ghost is a unique and secretive band that consists of a group of masked Nameless Ghouls
and various incarnations of a satanic anti-pope vocalist known as Papa Emeritus.
The singer often changes personas and, most recently, transformed into Cardinal Copia.
By now, you probably realize that we're not dealing with a typical group here.
So, it was fitting that their "break up" in 2017 was equally unusual.
According to Blabbermouth, the musicians behind the Nameless Ghoul masks unexpectedly filed
a lawsuit against the singer.
The gist of the suit was that Papa Emeritus, whom the lawsuit outed as Swedish musician
Tobias Forge, had "shamelessly" tried to turn the band into his own "solo project."
As Metal Injection tells us, further information from the ex-Ghouls and Forge himself soon
made it look like the whole "solo project" thing might have some legitimacy.
It transpired that Ghost had been a revolving door of Ghouls since the beginning, with roughly
10 musicians donning the masks over the years.
What's more, Forge also sometimes used session musicians for recordings who didn't actually
play with the live version of the group.
As Loudwire notes, the law was ultimately on Forge's side.
the ex-Ghouls lost the lawsuit, and Forge continues to pilot a band called Ghost with
a fresh set of Nameless Ghouls, presumably, ones who understand who they should be worshipping.
In 2019, Consequence of Sound reported that the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom
was "parting ways" with no less than three of its members.
But, luckily for fans, the group's leader, Alexi Laiho, is still in the band.
There's just one problem: the band he is in might not be Children of Bodom anymore.
The rights to the name "Children of Bodom" belong to a company owned by the three former
group members.
And, not so coincedently, they filed the paperwork for the rights shortly before they announced
their departure.
Laiho seems surprisingly cool about the potential loss of his band name.
He admits there has been tension within the band, and that the fighting was largely his
own fault.
He has also readied himself to perform under a different name if need be, possibly just
"Bodom."
The group's former keyboardist has made vague comments that the three departing band members
could possibly use the "Children of Bodom" name in the future.
So, who knows?
Maybe the new decade will see not just one, but two explosive Bodom-themed bands shredding
their way across the globe.
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