10 Hard Rock Bands That Had To Fire Major Members

When Camaraderie Reaches The End Of the Line.

Dave Mustaine Metallica
Warner Bros

A band tends to act like a dysfunctional marriage at the best of times. In one of the world's greatest balancing acts, you have to manage to work as a team to keep your career afloat, all while trying to satisfy as many egos as you can. As much as you may want to make it work though, there's always that one member who isn't holding up their end as well.

Across the years, plenty of bands had to let go of members to keep their career afloat. On the other hand, these musicians who got the raw end of the deal weren't just some ordinary sideman. Oftentimes, these were people who played a key role in the sound of the band, whether it be from a signature playing style or from having a hand in the writing of the songs. However, compromises have to be made, and these musicians just weren't able to go the distance the way they originally envisioned.

As opposed to the Three Musketeers mentality that you get from most musicians, you sometimes need to sacrifice a few members if you have any chance of seeing the success you want. Despite what they had to say about the matter, these changes have become part of rock history and shaped these classic artists into who they are today.

10. Nick Oliveri - Queens of the Stone Age

At the dawn of the '00s, Queens of the Stone Age were slowly picking up steam as the new leaders of rock and roll. Off the strength of albums like Rated R and Songs for the Deaf, these Californian badasses were melding stoner rock, blues, and classic rock into something much more raw and aggressive than it had ever been before. When you have that many hardasses in one band though, there's bound to be that one loose cannon.

For as critical as he was to the sound of the group, bassist Nick Oliveri really started to fall off the rails while on the road to promote Songs for the Deaf. While he was always the punk rock energy behind the group, his erratic behavior and supposed mistreatment of his girlfriend prompted the FBI to start checking in on him in case something went too awry. Noting the abuse that may have happened, Josh Homme officially severed ties with Oliveri going into Lullabies to Paralyze.

Though most of QOTSA's lineup was pretty much interchangeable from the word go, Oliveri had settled into the stoner rock family over the past few years, even having songs credited solely to him like on Auto Pilot and Six Shooter. Instead of folding the band, Homme's step up to the mic on the next outing and the addition of mainstay Troy Van Leeuwen proved that the robot rock of the Queens would have a second life.

 
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