10 Rock & Metal Bands Who Fired Their Singer

10. Anthrax - Joey Belladonna

Internationally revered as one of the thrash metal Big Four (along with Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica), Anthrax haven't exactly enjoyed the lineup consistency of their genre brethren.

Despite having three core members in Scott Ian (guitar), Charlie Benante (drums) and Frank Bello (bass), the band have had their fair share of lead guitarists and somewhere in the region of nine singers (or, if we're using Ian's metrics, two). Considering these guitar and vocals tend to form the central sound of most bands, it's surprising Anthrax have managed to maintain some semblance of a consistent sound throughout their career.

Nevertheless, in chasing this very consistency, they have never found beyond themselves to fire members when they've reached the end of their usefulness -- or, in the case of Joey Belladonna, their tether. Twice.

Back in 1992 it was widely reported that the singer had quit, but according to Belladonna himself he was in fact fired from the group. They invited him back for some reunion work in 2005, but in rushing straight out on the road the rest of Anthrax again found the singer too much to handle, and a rapidly escalating division between them caused Belladonna to be given the boot once more. And, this time, he found out he'd been fired on the internet...