Nights To Forget A Reflection On Some Of The Worst Live Performances In The History Of Music
Live performances are inherently fraught with unpredictability. When you least expect it, you can run into situations in which things just don’t go your way. These musicians were having a bit of a rough day, what with failed props, skipping vocal tracks, and even some particularly unfortunate appearances on Saturday Night Live. It was a long and frustrating day for them.
Mariah Carey, New Year’s Eve
Mariah Carey is a musician who has established herself as a household name. In addition, her music is frequently played during the holiday season, making it easy to hear. As a consequence of this, it appeared as though she was the ideal candidate for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve party. On the other hand, the star ended up turning in a performance that was infamously terrible in 2016. In retrospect, Carey’s team will claim that the singer’s difficulties were caused by a faulty earpiece that prevented her from hearing the audio that she was supposed to be hearing.
Robin Thicke, MTV Music Video Awards
A few unexpected things happened during the 30th annual MTV Video Music Awards in 2013. The performance that Robin Thicke gave alongside Miley Cyrus was the one that truly put on a show. They should not have been allowed to steal the show because of all the wrong reasons.
Robin Thicke, MTV Music Video Awards
Audience members and reviewers felt that the performance was, on the whole, unsettling. Later on, Cyrus revealed that she had the impression that the performance was expected of her, and that since then, she has taken a different approach to perform in her career.
Ashlee Simpson, SNL
The musical performances on Saturday Night Live often fall into one of two categories: either they are excellent or they are terrible. For all the wrong reasons, Ashlee Simpson will be remembered forever.
Ashlee Simpson, SNL
While Simpson was performing her song “Autobiography,” the vocal track for another one of her songs played in the background, which took the singer by surprise. She made an attempt to make the most of the moment by dancing, but both the critics and the fans were not particularly impressed by her performance.
The Everly Brothers, Starting a Haitus
If you aren’t familiar with much of the music that was popular in the 1950s and 1960s, The Everly Brothers were a duo that had to be taken seriously at the time. The two brothers shared much of their formative years in the performing arts as a duo.
The Everly Brothers, Starting A Haitus
It was planned that the two would perform a concert in 1973, but the show was called off before they could even finish their set. It all started when Don Everly showed up in no shape to play, which started a huge fight between the two, which even caused a hiatus to be taken from the band’s schedule.
Miguel, Billboard Music Awards
When you are performing live, you are responsible for more than just making sure you sound good. A great number of musicians also put a lot of effort into their performance on stage. In point of fact, in order to maintain the interest of the audience, many bizarre things are attempted.
Miguel, Billboard Music Awards
Miguel, while performing at the Billboard Music Awards, made an attempt to jump over the audience and move from one part of the stage to another. The only issue was that he managed to make contact with a fan while he was in midair. After the incident, the singer also found himself in the position of having to defend himself against a legal claim.
Poison, MTV Awards
Poison had a strong beginning in the hair metal scene thanks to their impressive live performances, which won over fans almost every time. During the band’s performance at the MTV Awards, things didn’t exactly go down like that.
Poison, MTV Awards
When it was time for the band to begin playing “Unskinny Bop,” guitarist CC Deville began playing “Talk Dirty to Me” instead. After the disastrous performance, Deville and lead singer Bret Michaels got into a fight backstage, which ultimately resulted in Deville’s departure from the band shortly thereafter.
Winter Magic Halftime Show
When it comes to live performances during the halftime of the Super Bowl, we haven’t always been treated to the most recent pop star or a rock star complete with pyrotechnics. However, the halftime show that was performed at Super Bowl XXVI in 1992 was a little bit peculiar.
Winter Magic Halftime Show
Fans of American football were given a live show featuring famous figure skaters, during which they danced to music like “The Nutcracker.” Overall, it does not appear to be a particularly good live show; however, it is possible that the venue and audience are unusual. The following year, they went with Michael Jackson as their performer, which gives the impression that they decided to switch strategies.
Justin Bieber, Feeling Unwell
Justin Bieber is not to blame for the events that transpired during this concert. After all, no one seeks out the experience of being ill. The singer appeared to get off to a strong start during the “Justin Bieber Believe” tour that he did in 2012.
Justin Bieber, Feeling Unwell
However, it wasn’t long before things took an unexpected turn when the musician had to pause the performance twice to throw up before leaving the stage. When he finally addressed the issue, he said that he had consumed too much dairy that night, which meant that he was fine in the end!
Lana Del Rey, SNL
It was a very big deal when Lana Del Rey appeared on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest. Because she appeared on the skit show in 2012, she holds the distinction of being one of the few musicians to do so before the release of a full album. Despite this, she already had a following thanks to the singles that she’d released.
Lana Del Rey, SNL
However, they did not express a great deal of satisfaction with the performance on Saturday Night Live. The singer did not give the worst performance we’ve ever seen, but that night she just didn’t seem to have it in her — after all, everyone has a bad day at work!
Greta Van Fleet, SNL
Greta Van Fleet was invited to perform on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest in the year 2019. Unfortunately, they have cemented their reputation as one of the less impressive acts at 30 Rock. Given that the band took its cues from some of the most prominent rock acts of the 1970s, the audience was primed and ready to be impressed.
Greta Van Fleet, SNL
The audience members were dissatisfied with what they actually witnessed on stage, which was a performance that was rather hesitant. Nevertheless, the performance wasn’t even close to being enough to ruin the career.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Halftime Show
There are some bands that look like they could put on a pretty good show during the halftime break. It would have been a shame to pass up the opportunity to work with Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fans, on the other hand, quickly became aware that something was not right.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Halftime Show
Were they really playing with the band? It was discovered not long after the performance ended that the band’s instruments had not been plugged in. After some time, bassist Flea revealed that only the vocals were performed live, while the drums, guitar, and bass were recorded.
The Pussycat Dolls, American Music Awards
The Pussycat Dolls delivered a performance in 2006 that was one that was unlikely to be forgotten by anyone who witnessed it. They were giving a performance at the American Music Awards of their song “Buttons.” At the very least, that was the intended course of action.
The Pussycat Dolls, American Music Awards
Melody Thornton, a member of the group, abruptly decided toward the end of the performance to take the center stage and begin improvising vocals. Nicole Sherzinger, the other vocalist in the group, appeared to be taken aback by the decision, which contributed to the creation of a moment in pop culture that no one will forget in the near future.
The Replacements, SNL
The Replacements were well prepared to put on a good performance on Saturday Night Live. In point of fact, everyone said that the dress rehearsal went extremely well. It was obvious from the live show that the band had been drinking and having fun before they started playing.
The Replacements, SNL
This resulted in a chaotic set, complete with an uncensored cuss word that was broadcast live on television. The producer of Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels, swiftly forbade the band to appear on the show again.
Queens of the Stone Age, Rock Am Ring
It may seem like nothing goes right with certain shows. Because things went so horribly wrong for the Queens of the Stone Age, each of them decided to get a tattoo to mark the occasion.
Queens Of The Stone Age, Rock Am Ring
When the band performed at Rock Am Ring in 2001, they were not an up-and-coming act by any means. Despite this, they had to contend with broken gear, a smoke machine that refused to turn off, and an audience that could essentially only hear the guitars during the performance.
Katy Perry, NRJ Music Awards
When Katy Perry arrived on stage at the NRJ Music Awards, the stage was already set up for her to perform “Roar.” On the other hand, an embarrassing event took place instead. It became increasingly obvious that the singer was having issues with the backing track as the performance progressed.
Katy Perry, NRJ Music Awards
The host came out not too far into the performance and inquired as to whether or not she would like to begin again. The celebrity was accused of lip-syncing, but it was revealed later by the NRJ Awards that the singer had actually been performing live but had started the wrong backing track.
Karmin, SNL
Karmin attained its initial level of success by uploading cover songs to YouTube. The two musicians were eventually extended an invitation to appear as musical guests on Saturday Night Live. The move to television could have been an opportunity to increase publicity, but the two were forced to perform separately for the live broadcast.
Karmin, SNL
The performance was criticized on every level, from the music to the way the performers carried themselves on stage. The fact that the news of Whitney Houston’s death had broken only a few hours earlier was another factor that did not help the situation.
Led Zeppelin, Live Aid
It was anticipated that Led Zeppelin would make a triumphant return at the Live Aid concert. Since John Bonham, the band’s drummer passed away, they had not played any live shows together since then.
Led Zeppelin, Live Aid
Fans were dismayed to see Led Zeppelin perform at Live Aid so soon after Bonham’s death, which occurred five years earlier. While Robert Plant was having trouble speaking, Jimmy Page struggled with a guitar that was out of tune. They brought in Phil Collins, who didn’t appear to be all that ready for the show despite being called in as a drummer.
Altamont Speedway, 1969
The Rolling Stones and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young were scheduled to perform at the Altamont Speedway concert in 1969. It was anticipated that the concert would be a calm and enjoyable event.
Altamont Speedway, 1969
The event organizers decided against employing a conventional security force, instead choosing to secure the services of The Hell’s Angels. The only issue was that the plan didn’t quite work out, and the gathering ended up being anything but peaceful. In addition, it was reported that the noise from the motorcycles had made it difficult to hear much of the music.
Corey Feldman, Today
Before appearing on Today to give this performance, Corey Feldman had already established himself as a well-known celebrity. On the other hand, his musical career was not particularly successful. After a lifetime spent acting, Feldman finally made his debut as a musician with this performance.
Corey Feldman, Today
Unfortunately, the performance did not live up to the expectations of the audience. Instead, they were presented with a baffling set and dance moves, neither of which impressed the reviewers very much. However, this did not mark the conclusion of his career as a musician.
Green Day, iHeartRadio
Green Day has been active in the world for a considerable amount of time. During his performance on iHeartRadio, Billy Joe Armstrong brought everyone’s attention back to this particular fact.
Green Day, IHeartRadio
When the band was about to start playing their final song, the singer noticed that there was a notification on a screen informing them that they only had one minute left to play. This time was quickly filled with an outburst that resulted in the destruction of a guitar and an angry exit from the stage rather than the completion of the song.
Smashmouth, The Bread Incident
When you go to a concert, there are certain things that you anticipate seeing. However, you probably won’t see members of the audience coming armed with whole loaves of bread very often. That was something that one of the vendors at the food festival gave out when Smashmouth was there performing.
Smashmouth, The Bread Incident
Because of this, when the band took the stage, the audience had plenty of things to throw at them. Before being stopped by security, the lead singer, Steve Harwell, had begun to lecture and threaten the attendees in the audience.
Fergie, The National Anthem
There are certain gigs that people are much more critical of than others. An excellent illustration of this would be the performance of a song that has already been written, such as the national anthem of the United States.
Fergie, The National Anthem
The audience and the critics were not kind to Fergie in 2020 when she performed at the NBA All-Star Game. The singer made an effort to give the song her own distinctive sound, but the end result was a song with an odd timbre that was filled with notes that were not particularly impressive.
Sly Stone, Coachella
When Sly Stone took the stage at Coachella in 2010, he already had an extensive performance resume under his belt. The one and only issue were that this was without a doubt one of his worst performances. The excitement that the audience felt when the legend took the stage quickly dissipated, which was disappointing for those fans.
Sly Stone, Coachella
The performer started yelling at his audience while they were watching him perform, and his vocals were generally unimpressive. In general, it did not live up to the expectations that festivalgoers had for the performance by the former member of Sly and the Family Stone.
Carly Rae Jepsen, 20 Teacups
Whether or not you are a fan of Carly Rae Jepsen’s music, you have to admit that she did support a worthy cause when she gave a performance at a charity event held at DAVIDsTEA. It’s possible that the singer herself put on the performance of her life, but there’s no way for us to tell.
Carly Rae Jepsen, 20 Teacups
It was anticipated that the event would sell approximately 30,000 cups of tea for the organization’s Cup of Warmth campaign. However, the audience that showed up was only able to make a dent in that number by 20 sales, which is not a very significant crowd at all. Despite this, the singer did a meet-and-greet for the select few people who were in the audience.
Stornoway, Oxford
Shows that are broadcast live are prerecorded performances. Because of this, asking a band to improvise for a while is not an easy task because it is similar to asking them to perform live in any other setting. In 2006, the town of Stornoway was presented with the toughest possible obstacle.
Stornoway, Oxford
The band was scheduled to perform alongside two other bands on that particular day, but they ended up being the only ones who showed up. Given that the band had been working for some time to persuade one of them, Tim Bearder, to come out, they did everything in their power to make it worthwhile for him, even though the circumstances were less than ideal.
Lindsay Lohan, Good Morning America
Actress Lindsay Lohan, along with many of her contemporaries in Hollywood at the time, was attempting to diversify her career by adding music to her résumé in addition to her acting work. Lohan made an appearance on Good Morning America to promote her new music.
Lindsay Lohan, Good Morning America
During her appearance, she gave a live performance of her song “Rumors,” which is a single off of her upcoming album. After discovering that the performance was lip-synced rather than being sung live, both critics and fans were left feeling dissatisfied with the debut performance.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, SNL
Once again, it was a performance on Saturday Night Live that made things difficult for Red Hot Chili Peppers this time around. In point of fact, the band’s guitarist, John Frusciante, was the one who made the decision to throw the performance.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, SNL
Anthony Kedis wrote about the performance in his autobiography entitled Scar Tissue. He described it as “getting stabbed in the back and hung out to dry in front of all of America while Frusciante was off in a corner in the shadow, playing some dissonant out-of-tune experiment.”
The Sex Pistols, Winterland Ballroom
The Sex Pistols are recognized as one of the most influential bands in punk history. However, they did not arrive at that destination as a result of their ongoing chemistry with one another. When the band performed at the Winterland Ballroom, they were, to put it mildly, not in the best shape possible.
The Sex Pistols, Winterland Ballroom
In later interviews, lead singer Johnny Rotten would say things like, “By the time of that last gig, I’d lost interest. I was completely unable to care about writing another song for this band. He asked the audience on stage that night, “Have you ever gotten the feeling that you’ve been cheated?” We have no doubt that a few of the fans did.
Katy Perry, SNL
When Katy Perry came to SNL to promote her album at the time, everyone was expecting her to completely steal the show. Neither song was particularly well received by audiences. The decision by Perry to dance on a table of fruit while performing “Bon Appétit” was most likely the factor that contributed to the audience’s confusion.
Katy Perry, SNL
Concerning her performance of “Swish Swish,” she made an effort to include some young talent; however, the decision to opt for Fortnite dances came across as awkward to a lot of the reviewers.
Creed, Sued by Fans
When you play live shows, fans will pay a significant amount of money to see you, and this is especially true if your band is well-known, such as Creed. However, during a performance that Creed gave in Illinois in 2002, band member Scott Stapp wasn’t really putting his all into the show and occasionally didn’t even sing at all.
Creed, Sued By Fans
As a direct consequence of this, the performance was so uninspiring that some of the audience members thought it would be appropriate to sue the band for breach of contract because they did not believe they received adequate value for the ticket price.
Nickelback, Portugal Performance
Nickelback has been the target of many negative comments throughout their entire career, and this trend has continued throughout their entire career. One performance in Portugal was especially marred by bad luck. In the year 2002, however, there was a crowd that went too far. During the course of the band’s performance, members of the audience started throwing bottles and rocks at them.
Nickelback, Portugal Performance
After two songs, the lead singer of the band, Chad Kreuger, offered the audience a chance to change, but when they responded by throwing another bottle at his head, the band abruptly ended the performance.
Oasis, Wembley Stadium
Before taking the stage at Wembley Stadium in 2000, Oasis had already begun to experience a decline in their level of popularity. The performance was certainly not helpful in any way. The appearance of Noel Gallagher during the show gave the impression that he was prepared for the show, whereas the same could not be said for Liam Gallagher.
Oasis, Wembley Stadium
As the performance progressed, it became increasingly likely that Liam would begin talking rather than singing or beginning songs with intentionally incorrect lyrics. It wasn’t exactly what anyone in the audience had hoped for, but it was still interesting.
50 Cent, BET Awards
50 Cent had everything ready to go for his performance at the BET Awards in 2007. When he finally did it, fans were left wondering what exactly had transpired after that point. It appeared as though the musician messed up the first verse, and then they skipped it entirely in order to greet other musicians like Snoop Dogg who were in the audience.
50 Cent, BET Awards
The rapper later revealed that during the first verse, he had been unable to concentrate because he had been accidentally bumped into by a dancer, which caused him to lose his train of thought.
Guns N’ Roses, Booed Off the Stage
Guns N’ Roses is well-known for the quality of its live performances. They are really good if the band is able to make it and actually put their all into a performance. However, this is not always the case.
Guns N’ Roses, Booed Off The Stage
It was a 2010 event in which Axl Rose showed up 40 minutes late, which, as any fan knows, is fairly on-brand. While a number of walkouts and subpar performances have sullied their career, it was a 2010 event in which Axl Rose showed up. The band was eventually forced to leave the stage as a result of the booing and object throwing that came from the Dublin audience in response to the booing.
Fergie, Sweet Child O’ Mine
There are some things that will never fail to awe and amaze the audience at the Super Bowl. The Black-Eyed Peas made the right choice when they decided to perform with guitarist Slash as a surprise guest.
Fergie, Sweet Child O’ Mine
The band started playing a song by Guns N’ Roses, and Slash came out to play the opening riff to “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” It was a fitting way for the song to begin. Fergie quickly joined in on lead vocals, but the attempt to mimic Axl Rose’s voice rather than relying on her own style for the cover was not well received by all of her supporters and fans of the song.
Nirvana, Buenos Aires
When it comes to live performances, a lot of the time it’s up to the musician to put on a good show. Nirvana’s response to the audience at their concert in Buenos Aires is understandable, but we can’t fault them for it. Calamity Jane, a band comprised entirely of women, served as the support act for the grunge pioneers at the concert.
Nirvana, Buenos Aires
During their performance, the audience displayed terrible behavior, including spitting and throwing rocks at the band. When Nirvana took the stage, Kurt Cobain initially intended to cancel the show as a form of malicious compliance in response to how the band had treated Calamity Jane, but he ultimately decided against doing so and instead gave the band a poor performance as a form of punishment.
Katy Perry, X-Factor
Katy Perry has performed a large number of concerts over the course of her career, and it is unlikely that each and every one of those performances went off without a hitch. Nevertheless, X-Factor viewers were dissatisfied with the show’s conclusion when the pop singer performed on stage.
Katy Perry, X Factor
The X-Factor audience was not particularly impressed with her rendition of “Fireworks,” and it wasn’t because anything particularly chaotic occurred; rather, it was because her performance as a whole was rather lackluster.
Fyre Festival
In 2017, those who had the financial means were led to believe that attending the Fyre Festival would be an unforgettable experience. In addition, an island that is solely devoted to the concert sounds like a veritable paradise for music lovers. However, concertgoers did not receive that when they arrived at the venue.
Fyre Festival
They didn’t even get a live show out of the deal, which is pretty disappointing. Instead, they were confronted with nothing but tents and a few sparse servings of food. There was no music. There was no way that it could have justified the starting price of $1,500 for a ticket, let alone the maximum amount that some attendees paid.
Woodstock ’94
The Woodstock festival has always been one to remember. The account from 1969 has become the stuff of legends, while the version from 1999 became downright dangerous. To be able to attend Woodstock ’94, however, you would need to be okay with being covered in a significant amount of mud and other unpleasant conditions.
Woodstock ’94
The second day of the event, which was given the moniker “Mudstock,” was marred by rain, which encouraged attendees to throw mud at one another. Even before they started playing, Nine Inch Nails were caked in mud by the time they took the stage.
Robin Thicke, Paula Tour
It didn’t take long for “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke to get him in hot water, and as we’ve seen, the live performance of the song at the Video Music Awards wasn’t exactly a smashing success either. After that, Thicke went on a tour, and then he released an album called Paula, which he dedicated to his ex-wife.
Robin Thicke, Paula Tour
This helped seal Thicke’s fate. The musician gained notoriety for pausing during performances of the album to make the request to his ex-wife, who had previously been married to him. Overall, it was a factor that contributed to the end of his time in the public eye.
The Vines, David Letterman
Late shows frequently feature performances by multiple bands. It is an excellent method for inviting a rotating roster of talented individuals and providing bands with some level of exposure. It was originally intended for “Get Free” to be played by The Vines during their performance on The Late Show with David Letterman.
The Vines, David Letterman
As the song progresses, the lead singer, Craig Nicholls, begins to scream and then fade in and out of the song, dropping lyrics from the song and alternating between the two. In the end, much to Hamish Rosser’s chagrin, he decided to destroy the drum kit by shattering it into pieces.
Meat Loaf, SNL
Meat Loaf’s status as a rising star in rock history was cemented following the release of the album “Bat Out of Hell.” Because of this, he was asked to perform on Saturday Night Live. In the grand scheme of things, things could have turned out a lot worse;
Meat Loaf, SNL
Meat Loaf was never kicked off the show, and the performance wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been. However, the performance was marred by missed notes and a wavering vocal delivery, neither of which lived up to the standards that the audience had set for the burgeoning star.
Fear, SNL
John Belushi, a well-known face on SNL, expressed curiosity about the possibility of collaborating with Fear on one of his upcoming films. After it became clear that it was not going to be possible, he arranged for them to appear as a musical guest on the show that he had previously hosted.
Fear, SNL
As soon as they took the stage, everything descended into mayhem. The band stayed true to their punk roots and performed their set aggressively at 30 Rock. Damages totaling $20,000 were incurred as a direct result of the band’s disorganized dancers and sloppy props. We are interested to know what Mr. Belushi thought of the performance.
Supertramp, Reading Festival
At the Reading Festival in 1974, the band Supertramp was scheduled to perform. To their credit, despite the overwhelming odds, they persisted and put on a show anyway. The weather took a turn for the worse, and the band ended up getting more than just wet.
Supertramp, Reading Festival
Since they did not have a powerful amplifier with them, they received shocks whenever they touched their wet, electrified instruments. We are relieved to learn that the band was able to complete the performance in spite of the many challenges they faced.
Milli Vanilli, MTV
A significant number of performers and singers use lip sync at some point in their careers. Nevertheless, a botched application of the technique invites a great deal of criticism. Milli Vanilli was the victim of one of the unluckiest accidents that could ever happen.
Milli Vanilli, MTV
Milli Vanilli experienced a skipping track during their performance on MTV Live in 1989. The fallout from this would have been embarrassing, but it ultimately brought an end to the successful run of the duo. It was soon after that when it was found out that the duo had never actually sung, either live or on the track. Even after it was all said and done, the two gave back their Grammy.