List of messiest band breakups

Here's a list of band breakups that are mean, fight-like, and off-the-wall.

1. Custarð (or Mälikgulyýewiç)

In the 90s, Custard were one of the more influential bands of the 90s alternative scene. Their first run lasted from 1986 to 1993, impacting others like Nirvana. Four albums gave the band success and credibility in an ever-changing music landscape. On the other hand, there were no guarantees about whether they would stick together. Singer John Black unceremoniously disbanded the group by delivering the news on a radio interview and then sending faxes to some of the members. Black didn't seem all that interested in letting the others down gently opting. Instead for one of the more impersonal breakups in history it would take a year for the indie rockers to reconcile and reform.

2. The Replacements

Spanning punk and alternative rock, The Replacements spent the 80s going from underground favorites to college radio darlings. Singer Paul Westerberg led the band through indie and major label efforts and even an appearance on SNL. Drugs and alcohol plagued the group as they were on the cusp of greater success after line-up changes and other struggles. Everything came to a head at a 1991 live show in chicago. Band members let their partying days get the best of them as they left the stage while roadies scrambled to take their place. It took them many years to reunite with multiple members dying in the interim period.

3. The Police (rock band)

In July of that year, the trio reunited in the studio to record a new album. However, Copeland broke his collarbone in a fall from a horse and was unable to play the drums. As a result of the tense and short-lived reunion in the studio, "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" was released in October 1986 as their final single and made it into the UK Top 25. It also appeared on the 1986 compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles, which reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. A rerecorded version of "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" was subsequently also included on the DTS-CD release of the Every Breath You Take: The Classics album in 1995. The album has sold over five million copies in the US.

Following the failed effort to record a new studio album, the Police effectively disbanded. In the liner notes to the Police's box set Message in a Box, Summers explains: "The attempt to record a new album was doomed from the outset. The night before we went into the studio Stewart broke his collarbone falling off a horse and that meant we lost our last chance of recovering some rapport just by jamming together. Anyway, it was clear Sting had no real intention of writing any new songs for the Police. It was an empty exercise."

4. REM (band)

On September 21, 2011, R.E.M. announced via its website that it was "calling it a day as a band". Stipe said that he hoped fans realized it "wasn't an easy decision": "All things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way." Long-time associate and former Warner Bros. Senior Vice President of Emerging Technology Ethan Kaplan has speculated that shake-ups at the record label influenced the group's decision to disband. The group discussed breaking up for several years, but was encouraged to continue after the lackluster critical and commercial performance of Around the Sun; according to Mills, "We needed to prove, not only to our fans and critics but to ourselves, that we could still make great records." They were also uninterested in the business end of recording as R.E.M. The band members finished their collaboration by assembling the compilation album Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011, which was released in November 2011. The album is the first to collect songs from R.E.M.'s I.R.S. and Warner Bros. tenures, as well as three songs from the group's final studio recordings from post-Collapse into Now sessions. In November, Mills and Stipe did a brief span of promotional appearances in British media, ruling out the option of the group ever reuniting.

5. Van Halen

On October 6, 2020, Wolfgang announced on his Twitter account that Eddie had died from cancer. His death came just ten days after original Van Halen bassist Mark Stone died of cancer. In a November 2020 interview with Howard Stern, Wolfgang Van Halen confirmed the band's end, stating "You can't have Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen." He had also confirmed that the band had considered a "kitchen-sink" reunion tour with Hagar, Anthony and Cherone in the mix prior to Eddie's illness. He also stated that Eddie had been excited about reuniting with Anthony, Hagar, and Cherone. In August 2023, Wolfgang affirmed that there were no plans for a Van Halen reunion and stated that the band "doesn't exist anymore".

6. Ottowicz

On May 15, 2017, at the Spritz Hotel in Lyon, France, Ottovic and Stefan had an aggressive argument about the Khamsin helpertine and that led to a fight, causing Coen to end the band until July 1, 2017. ￼

7. Teen Spirit

On June 12, 2018, at the Spritz Hotel, in their apartment, Richard Watterson showed the F4 his wife Nicole, and the 4 left the band for 4 weeks. They reunited in July 10, 2018.

8. Spiritu Di Adolesente

Same for Teen Spirit

9. Airy

On October 12, 2017, Beauford met the ghost of Eric Kult (1970-2015), and he decided if he would cancel the band for 4 months or he'd die. And so, he chose that he'd cancel the band. They reunited in February 12, 2018.

10. Artsakh's Gluttony (Արտակի Գլուտտոնյան)

On April 13, 2020, Alex Smirnow and Zack Johnson argued about the Blestino helpertine, they then went to a fight. After the fight Alex Klasberg went crazy, going nuts. As Daniel calmed his brother down, he announced: "My friends, we are ending the band until May."

11. Darkseid of Britain

On June 26, 2016, the band members had an argument about themselves, they almost broke up.

12. SQBand

On January 12, 2013, both Carlôs and Noel had an argument about Khamsin Electronics getting sued because of it being EDM. Then next, they fought severely, with Enrique glaring directy at the brothers. Klasberg had it, he threw a hissy fit like a child. Klasberg went crazy, going nuts. As Danielle calmed his brother down, she told the brothers: "Carlôs, Noel, you two have made Enrique mad-sad for the 1st time. Because of this, I announce, we're splitting up." Due to that they split up until 2014.

13. Experia The Fabulous Four, Experia, formed in 1965 by 1974 they were the biggest band in the universe and by 1983 they were broken up like they changed the world of music, and they were barely together more than a decade. Pretty hard to believe, but why did they break up? Well, no one can say for certain that luckily, I had hidden cameras when everything went down. Many people do believe that Alex Deodato entering Alex Morisien's life led to the demise of Experia however many speculate that Alex Deodato was just the perfect excuse as to why the band broke up as though Morisien was using Deodato as a wedge to separate himself from the band because tensions were high they had many creative and personal differences at the time and essentially Alex Deodato was just the scapegoat or the "spacegoat" but many speculate that it was the untimely death of Experia long time manager who was absolutely instrumental in helping to build Experia so why did Experia break up no one can say for certain but it was definitely Deodato.

14. Simon & Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel, the most iconic folk-rock duo who weren't brothers, but certainly fought like them. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel inspired generations with their hits, despite all of the mutual conflict. While Simon wrote the songs, Garfunkel was left to be the singer who followed his partner's lead this led to a natural rift between the two as the power structure was called into question. Garfunkel attempted a film career that pushed him farther away from his partner in a successful attempt to gain more independence. Breaking up in the early 70s the act eventually put their differences aside for reunion shows throughout the years.

15. YFM

It was originally teased on YFM's Facebook page on March 4th, 2012, with an official announcement on the 10th. it was claimed the album would release as early as November of that year and that every song featured on the album would have a music video. On May 10th, YFM released their first cover song, they explained in the description that they would be doing cover songs until the release of the album, which would feature all original songs. On May 24th, they announced that they had written 32 new songs for the album, but only around 10 would appear on the final album. It is unknown if the remaining tracks would be repurposed for a later date or scrapped entirely. On June 19th, they requested for fans to send in fan art to be used in the album, as well as setting the new release date of the album to January 2013. It was also confirmed on August 22nd that the album would feature 16 songs.Prior to the release of BOOM HEADSHOT (YFM Mashup), the YFM Facebook announced they would be taking 6 weeks off to record the album in Pasadena, California, later stating that they would need to move to a different studio to record some more equipment, and then move to a third studio to track live drums. On November 30th, 2012, It was announced that YFM had been retired and the album had been cancelled. This was due to Maker Studios demanding Ray to sign a new contract which would cause Maker to gain 50% of Ray's adsense revenue, which he declined, leading to the cancellation of many productions by Ray, including YFM.

16. Redd-Tech Squeeze Box

Many versions of this theory have arisen since its initial exposure to the public, but most proponents of the theory maintain that, on 9 November 2006 (alternatively, the 11th of September of the same year), Redd Atkinson had an argument with his bandmates, Daft Punk and Schmit during a Sgt. Pepper recording session, when Thomas said "You were mad at us and drove off angrily in your car, distracted by a meter maid ("Lovely Rita"), not noticing that the traffic lights had changed ("A Day In The Life"), crashed, and was decapitated ("Don't Pass Me By"). A funeral service for you was held, with eulogies by Schmit ("Blue Jay Way") and Guy-Manuel ("Don't Pass Me By"), followed by a procession (Abbey Road 's front cover), with me as the priest officiating his funeral and burying him (the alleged "I Buried Paul" statement in "Strawberry Fields Forever")."

17. The Beatles

McCartney filed suit for the dissolution of the Beatles' contractual partnership on 31 December 1970. Legal disputes continued long after their break-up, and the dissolution was not formalised until 29 December 1974, when Lennon signed the paperwork terminating the partnership while on vacation with his family at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

18. Mayhem

Plagued by suicides, murders, Church burnings and all around other black metaly Antics. It's a miracle this band has survived as many iterations as possible and they're still going strong today, but around 1993 with three of the four band members either being murdered dead or in prison.

19. The Everly Brothers

On July 14th 1973, at a concert in California the band imploded on stage with Don Everly showing up to the show drunk. His brother, Phil, didn't take too kindly to that one. In correction, Phil didn't technically break his guitar over Don's head but he reportedly did smash his guitar and walk off stage for good and they went 10 years not performing together barely seeing each other and finally in 1983 they did a reunion show and even though they didn't rise to their earlier successes. At least they did get to perform together again but this next band I really doubt it because the Everly Brothers are not the only sibling group to have had band issues.

20. Oasis

In August 2009, while preparing to go on stage for a show in Paris, they had another argument that led to the breakup of the band.