10 Musicians That Walked Away From HUGE Bands
6. Richard Patrick - Nine Inch Nails
Let's face it...Nine Inch Nails probably wouldn't have sold as well if it were just called the Trent Reznor Experience. As much as Trent has a hand in pretty much every facet of the music in the band, there was something a lot more menacing having the entire band losing their mind whenever they played a show. In the midst of the chaos though, Richard Patrick found his way out of the band all the way back on Pretty Hate Machine.
After having been a part of the arrangement for several of the band's early hits, Patrick decided to go his own way to focus on his strengths as a musician. It seemed like a smooth parting at first...until we got to hear the Downward Spiral a few years later. With the song Piggy, Reznor started to get salty towards Patrick leaving, with the song title being the pet name for him when he was on tour.
Richard didn't have time to deal with the backlash though, having already created the foundation for the band Filter, which would go on to have even more industrial hits on their own with songs like Take a Picture and Hey Man Nice Shot. It's a shame that the relationship fractured pretty badly, but we did manage to get two kickass bands for the price of one out of the deal.