Musicians can go from being at the top of the charts and having platinum albums to making one mistake that will send them down a spiral, which they might never recover from. The reasons for this can range from expressing political views, criticizing a certain religion, acting like a douchebag, or as serious as physically harming another person. Let’s take a look at 6 musicians who ruined their careers in a matter of seconds.
1. Chris Brown
Chris Brown was amongst the most famous and loved R&B artists, and his relationship with Rihanna was getting him bonus points. But that ill-fated fight with Rihanna was the end for him. You’ve all seen pictures of Rihanna beaten up by Chris Brown, they’re burned into our minds. He was charged with assault and ever since it seems like he’s had even more violent outbursts. His career never recovered and it never will.
2. Robin Thicke
Robin Thicke’s song Blurred Lines seems to be both the highlight and the downfall of his career. On one hand, everyone heard it and you couldn’t get it out of your head, on the other hand, it was very misogynistic. The music video didn’t help the case at all, and that performance with Miley Cyrus was the cherry on top of this disaster. He then tried to pretend like he wasn’t aware of exactly what that would look like and sound like and hilariously his next album was supposed to be about healing his broken marriage. He basically acted like a total douche 100% of the time and his career took a nosedive.
3. Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige had many fans thanks to her songs that made you feel like you really knew her. But turns out we didn’t know her that well. The thing that made everyone turn on her was an ad she filmed with Burger King. The ad never aired on national TV, but the video leaked and her fans were disappointed to see her singing in the middle of the Burger King about fried chicken. Everyone was outraged that she stooped that low and played up racial stereotypes. She apologized for doing it nonetheless, but her musical career was a goner at that point.
4. Sinead O’Connor
It’s weird how religion is still so intertwined with fame. Sinead’s career took a huge hit after her performance at Saturday Night Live, when she sang a version of Bob Marley’s song War, but paraphrased the lyrics to highlight the child abuse in Catholic Church. She then went on to rip up the picture of the Pope ( at the time it was John Paul II). She never quite recovered from that.
5. Natalie Maines
Natalie Maines from Dixie Chicks managed to hurt her career over politics. Something that in hindsight seems weird, all things considered, but hey 2003 was a different time. At one of the performances, she said that she feels ashamed that their then-president (George W. Bush) was from Texas. These days we think she might’ve gotten a standing ovation, but back then it led to radio stations across Texas to stop playing her songs. She then apologized and clarified that she loved her country and was proud to be American. But it didn’t really help.
6. Boy George
Boy George was a very controversial figure in music, he had his issues with substance abuse and addiction but what really ended his career was the incident with a male escort. He hired a guy he met on a website to be a nude model, invited him to his house, and after having his fun he accused him of stealing photos from his computer. He then proceeded to handcuff and beat up the young man. Boy George ended up being sentenced to 15 months in jail.
