10 Music Artists Who Quit In Their Prime
2. Gotye
About a decade ago, Gotye’s hit Somebody That I Used To Know was everywhere, winning awards, breaking chart records and dominating radio. After slowly building up his music career for a decade, Wouter André “Wally” De Backer had a massive, breakout, worldwide hit that led to him being handed a Grammy by his hero Prince.
Then? Nothing. Or close enough. He seemed to disappear so completely that speculation began online that he had died. In 2014, via an online newsletter De Backer announced, “There will be no new Gotye music”. Though he didn’t rule out a new Gotye project in the future, so far there has been been no follow up to 2011 album Making Mirrors.
Instead De Backer has made a handful of guest vocal appearances and concentrated on drumming and singing with his pre-fame band The Basics. He has also dedicated much of his time and effort to preserving the legacy of electronic music pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey and the early electronic instrument the ondioline.
De Backer didn’t quit music but he did seemingly quit the fame and fortune it had brought him, in favour of continuing to work as a creative artist on his own terms.