Who's the biggest asshole in rock music

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Fred Durst is not a musician.

― JM, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Bono is the biggest asshole in the universe however he too possibly fails the Mod Test.

― mark s, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

If Courtney Love is still (or was ever) a musician then she should get a vote.

― Alex in SF, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

how the FUCK is bono the biggest asshole in rock music??? pretentious and self-important? yes. But please explain how HE rates as the biggest asshole in rock music... he gave 2.5 million bucks to an orphanage for glue-addicted street children in honduras so that ALONE redeems him from complete asshole-dom in my book...

― Phong Wiedermeier, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

YNGWIE!

Durst wishes that he could reach the level of assholishness that comes oh so naturally to Mr. Malmsteen.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Stephen Malkmus, who seems to believe himself to be something more than an, at best, above-average musician with dreadful lyrics, and also seems to believe, in interviews, that he is some kind of Dadaist comic genius. When, in fact, he's just a fucknut.

― Judd Nelson, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I'm afraid that Malkmus also doesn't meet my definition of an asshole either. He is no doubt a pretensious dork, but as far as I can tell he's fairly affable (seems friendly enough in interviews, doesn't assault critics, fans, etc, and doesn't seem to think that the 1st amendment was created solely to inconvenience him). So I vote jerk not asshole for Malkmus (same applies to Bono--although he's a bit more delusional and has even GREATER pretensions).

― Alex in SF, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

PRML SCRM = SXR!@#!@#!@#!@#

BBBY GLLSP = WNKR!@#!@#!@#!@#~

x0x0x

― Norman Phay, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Go back and read old Albini interviews, circa mid to late 80s. The dude, while being right most of the time, was such a complete asshole. The king of assholes. ASSHOLE.

But alas, an incredible engineer and sincerely honest guy.

odd, huh?

― Gage-o, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Damon Albarn comes across in interview as a grimly unpleasant person. Thurston Moore has done some irritating things in his time, such as tear up bank notes in front of Czech fans, saying 'Cost a lot to get in tonight, did it?' which it would have been hard to find amusing.

― Daniel, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Lots of folks to list here: The Butthole Surfers, Greg Ginn, Metallica, Lou Reed, etc. Chunklet ran a 100 Biggest Assholes issue a year or so back.

― Chris Barrus, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I am sure Phil Collins is a lurvely chap in real life.... Uh fek no. Bastard-oh.

― nathalie, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

nathalie beat me to it, but i can't resist: phil collins gets my vote, too.

― cecilia, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Matthew Good and the dude from The Tea Party.

― Evangeline, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

i second metallica. they think everyone should pay for their art. but it isn't even art, its fart.

― di, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The strange thing about Metallica is that before the Napster debacle they had such incredible goodwill with their fans. I met them in '88 and they were as cool as could be. Metalheads would have taken a bullet for them in the 80's but now I just sense a collective shrug of the shoulders.

― Mark M, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

My top three:Bono,Bono, and Bono.

― Jim Hargraves, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

JIM, why is Bono the BIGGEST asshole in music??? Explain...

― Phong Wiedermeier, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Don "We'll get back together when Hell freezes over" Henley.

― JM, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20020314/capt.1016136935.bush_foreign_aid_wh106.jpg

― do you SEE!?, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

G.G. Allin, anyone? I don't know if we're judging these by the artist's way of acting towards the press, their fans, or their own self-image, but this is the guy that used to literally shit on his audience...

― Adam, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Toploader

― Sonicred, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

They are a dime a dozen in rock music according to my mother

― anthony, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Albini is one of the nicest musicians I've ever met. He just tends to come off really dry and sandy in the press, though.

In fact, I can't remember meeting anybody internationally known who gave me the "Hmmm, asshole" afterthought. Most asshole musicians I met were usually the local musicians I had to do sound for back in my college days -- local meaning Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Diego... usually lame soul cover bands. True, those assholes are certainly a dime a dozen.

My vote for ex-asshole goes to Bradley Nowell of Sublime. He made a fellow KUCI DJ cry by calling her insulting names after she caught him graffiti-ing the station elevator.

― Brian MacDonald, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Well Phong,He just is.

― Jim Hargraves, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Did Thurston Moore actually do that?

― sundar subramanian, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Russell Crowe ! Courtney Taylor Bono- might as well jump on the wagon

― kiwi, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

i agree he's a pretentious, silly little man in some ways but calling him an asshole is ridiculous... i agree the grandstanding with tutu, bush, the pope, gerry adams or whoever is absurd, but he also QUIETLY gave 2.5 million bucks to fund an orphanage for glue-addicted street kids in honduras (my sister worked with UNICEF there) That is NOT the work of an asshole!!!

― Phong Wiedermeier, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

― kiwi, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

"oh where oh where has my photo gone" whoops looks like my Vedder and Nader photo didnt work

― kiwi, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Sebastian Bach for his recent "Do you know who I am?" episode, Courtney Love because she once shoved me for no reason, and Matthew Good, because he takes pride in his assholeness.

― Dobler, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

ryan adams. in his recent trip to melbourne he:

a) kicked someone out of his show for requesting 'summer of 69'

b) wouldn't go on public radio program he'd had scheduled until one of his lackeys bought him a brand new pair of levis.

― minna, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

whoops looks like my Vedder and Nader photo didnt work

Killing two insufferable assholes with one stone ... I like very much!

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

a) kicked someone out of his show for requesting 'summer of 69'

(laughing) that roXor!!! i mean the person who requested it roXor, not mr humorless ryan adams obviously

what about j. lo? isn't she the biggest beeyotch/spoiled cranky diva ever? um i guess she doesn't really count as "rock music" though. but still.

and morrissey...he is mr asshole-spoiled-cranky-diva also

― geeta, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

heres another vote for ryan adams.

― chaki, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Damon Albarn, hello.

― Ally, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

dave mustain in a league of his own.

― olly 360, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

and ryan gets a vote, for simply bringing out 'gold'. i wonder where all the praise came from ...

― olly 360, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

who the hell is ryan adams???

― Phong Wiedermeier, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

not j-lo!! i saw her interviewed on tv, and the interview said "i hear you're the biggest bitch in the cosmos" and j-lo said "not so" so not her

― mark s, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

just like his Canadian namesake but less popular

― kiwi, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

That "Summer of 69" story is hilarious. If he played at the club near here, I'd pay money just to go do that and see what happens.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Someone else's story: Matthew Good, for multiple offenses against humanity and basic human courtesy, including refusing to take off a monkey mask for a magazine cover shot that had been pre-arranged. I don't have any first-hand experience of it. I hope he finds it heartwarming that he's been mentioned twice already on an international list. Sort of dispels the image of Canadians as overly polite. Maybe that's worth something.

My personal reformed asshole story: Tom Cochrane (of Red Rider and "Life is a Highway" fame). He was touring the country back in the early 90s, and was riding a wave of success on radio after being perceived as an album act for a goooood long time with Red Rider. I had the dubious pleasure of interviewing him for the local paper via phone, three weeks before the show. Without any ill intent, I asked him how it felt to be dominating the Canadian Top 40 with the new album after being successful as an album artist previously. He bristled and launched into this rant about how he didn't sell out! Dammit! And that he was the ORIGINAL UNDERGROUND ARTIST (laughable assertation, really). I used a bit of diplomacy to get the interview back on track, and at the end he invited me backstage for a beer or something on the day of the show. Well, come the day of the show, I show up a bit early, and catch him doing the soundcheck. Because of bad timing--public auto insurance was due at right about the same time for everyone in the province--the show had sold only about 500 tickets in a venue that would hold 3000-5000 people. Instead of grumbling privately, he launched into a bitter tirade over the loudspeaker system about how our town sucked, and he even insulted me personally over the PA--I guess asking him about the Top 40 status of several of his singles really cut him to the bone, however unintentionally. Anyhow, years later he acknowledged how big an asshole he was to everyone around that time. To hear about it now (I haven't talked with the man since), he's actually one of the nicest guys you'd want to talk to. How 'bout that?

― Sean Carruthers, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Gene Simmons of Kiss and Bryan Adams - met them both - and was appalled at their lack of courtesy. Adams was a particularly vile individual, snapping his fingers at wait staff in an Indian restaurant as if he were Frank Sinatra.

― Dennis Molson, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

a) kicked someone out of his show for requesting 'summer of 69'
(laughing) that roXor!!! i mean the person who requested it roXor, not mr humorless ryan adams obviously
Try finding the humour in it after it's been done every single night.

― nathalie, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Then that's when it's time to adapt a stage moniker like Brett Beautiful. It worked for Sean Coombs, who shed his Puff Daddy identity like a cocoon and emerged into the world as the sparkling crystalline butterfly that is P. Diddy. I...I am moved what he did. Overwhelmed with emotion. *sobs*

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Nathalie if he wasn't such an arsehole he'd learn the bloody song and perform it - that would soon shut 'em up!

― Andrew L, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Who's Matthew Good, Sean? I mean, I went to AMG but I didn't get any sense of what the music sounds like. Among the influences listed were Bob Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Revue, Blackie Lawless and Oasis. Hmmmm.

― Arthur, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Generic alternative rock hero for disaffected Canadian youth. The band has a reasonably interesting website at www.matthewgoodband.com. To see him in full swing, check out this link here.

― Sean Carruthers, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

John Fogerty. This guy's head is huge, he wouldn't even play with his band when they were being inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame. I mean, sure he wrote all the songs, but there's plenty of bands where one person writes all the songs, and in most of them he doesn't go around saying things like: "I was Credence Clearwater". Fuck John Fogerty, I can't even listen to the music anymore (not that I was that keen on it to begin with).

― Dan i., Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I wanted to make a joke that used the phrase "butt sex" here, but I couldn't word it properly.

― Dan Perry, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Gene Simmons. Nobody even comes close.

― Pump Wellington, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

A friend told me this afternoon that she heard a recent interview with Gene Simmons on NPR. Apparently, Mr. Simmons was extremely rude and arrogant during the NPR interview, which is especially interesting since he was promoting his Kiss and Make-Up book. Not a good way to promote yerself, Mr. Demon!

It's especially interesting, since another acquaintance met Paul Stanley a few years ago and he swore that Stanley was both very nice and down-to-earth.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Fogerty or Roger Waters

― Phong Wiedermeier, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

In Gene's defense, Terry Gross's questions have a tendency of being cringe inducing.

― Nicole, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I note that basically the only people who think of Albini as an asshole are non-musicians. Bands I know who've recorded with him have uniformly great things to say about him (including types you wouldn't guess would be buddy-buddy with him: Low, Danielson Famile, etc.); it's just that he doesn't suffer spongers at all.

― Douglas, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I think it's because Albini's upfront about things, doesn't beat around the bush (or is that Bush heheheh), that confuses people. There's a difference between frankness and being mean.

― nathalie, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Sundar Subramian: Yes Thurston Moore really did that... in front of my very eyes.

― Daniel, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Can't believe nice guy Jon bon jovi hasn't got a mention. I heard he signed skid row on one of those fifties style managment deals where he got 90% of the money. It included a confidentiality clause where if they ever spoke about he could sue for the rest. Also remember the feels like a saturday night song which came out at the height of grunge "somenights I feel like I might just blow myself away..". Next thing I know I see him on the cover of Hello magazine showing off his house in Malibu. If only you would, Jon, If only you would.

― Bluegerm, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Daniel, could you leave a few more details about Mr. Moore, er, put it in context ?? This guy is art musics big public saviour to some people, so I think everybody wants/needs to know about this sort of behavior. I mean did he do this supposedly hidden from view in Eastern Europe ? Why ?

― George Gosset, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Hands down Gene Simmons. Did anyone hear his Fresh Air interview? What a complete fucking tool. And not in a good way.

― Samantha, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Here's some fr esher Gene meat, if you will.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

four years pass...

PLAY SUMMER OF SIXTY NINE, YA FUCKER

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 April 2006 18:08 (seventeen years ago) link

you never him

― Aaron A, Saturday, 29 April 2006 18:11 (seventeen years ago) link

really, it's all about the fans

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 April 2006 18:24 (seventeen years ago) link

GG Allin seems like he wasnt an asshole, seeing interviews and watching that movie, he just looked fucked up but didn't do anything that people either didn't expect / deserve.

― andrew b (klik99), Saturday, 29 April 2006 19:22 (seventeen years ago) link

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