Top 10 Hilariously Out of Touch Music Moments

Top-10 Hilariously Out Of Touch Music Moments

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for the most ridiculous, misguided, and downright baffling decisions made by musicians.

#10: Billy Corgan Becomes a TNA Wrestling Executive

Does being the lead singer of a beloved alternative-rock band make you qualified to be a pro-wrestling executive? Well, if youre Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan, it certainly does. Outside of his love for music, Corgan has been a long-time pro-wrestling fan. So when he decided to dip into the business by becoming heavily involved in the organisation TNA, he described it as a dream come true. That didnt mean the rest of us werent baffled. The relationship between Corgan and TNA only lasted a few months before he left over a payment dispute. But the following year, he proved his passion even more by purchasing NWA, another promotion. And to this day, he is still NWAs president.

#9: Metallicas Infamous Snare Sound On St. Anger

Lars Ulrich is by no means a generational talent on the drums. Sure, he has his moments. But all in all, most fans would agree that his skills are pretty patchy, especially on Metallicas more complex music. However, despite his many on-stage mistakes and underwhelming moments, his most infamous crime of all was something entirely different. During the turbulent recording sessions for the bands St. Anger album, Ulrich decided to do something truly drastic. He adjusted the sound on his snare to the point where it became totally unlistenable. It was like someone was banging old pots and pans, dwarfing all other sounds on the record. To this day, it is regarded as one of the most bizarre performance choices in music history.

#8: Kiss Take Off Their Makeup

Love 'em or hate 'em if Kiss did have one thing going for them, it was the fact that they had a unique look. The face paint and monstrous costumes adorned by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and co. were such a huge part of their spectacle during their peak years. When Kiss announced that they were finally going to shed their makeup and perform as regular-looking dudes, it did not have the desired effect. All of a sudden, the most unique-looking group in rock music just looked like every other hair-metal band on the scene. Thankfully, it didnt take long until they realised the error of their ways. Who knows why they decided to do it in the first place?

#7: Garth Brooks becomes Chris Gaines

Garth Brooks has the type of money that most musicians would kill for. If he wanted, he could hang up his hat and guitar and never work again. That kind of freedom can give you a lot of wiggle room when it comes to your creative choices. When Brooks decided to create an alter-ego named Chris Gaines, it was one of the wildest u-turns imaginable. Brooks donned makeup and a wig and sang incredibly melodramatic music, a far cry from his country roots. People were understandably shocked and bemused by the whole thing. Sure, Brooks can do whatever he wants in his free time, but the fact that the album was critically panned was not a surprise at all.

#6: Robin Thicke Tries to Win His Ex-Wife Back

To say that Robin Thicke had a dramatic fall from grace would be putting it lightly. First of all, his super-creepy hit single Blurred Lines ended up getting him in trouble for plagiarism. Then his super-creepy performance at the VMA awards opposite Miley Cyrus left everyone with a weird taste in their mouths. After that, his wife Paula Patton left him. So, in super-creepy fashion, he wrote an entire album entitled Paula that revolved around his desire to win her back. As you might have guessed, it did not work. To make matters worse, it sold hilariously poorly. To this day, Thickes career has never managed to recover.

#5: Madonnas NFT Series

Madonna is a legend of pop music and has virtually nothing left to prove after decade upon decade of dominance on the charts. That doesnt mean shes not still trying to make a splash. In 2022, she decided to release her Mother of Creation NFT collection. On paper, it mightve actually been a wise move - a sign that Madonna was getting with the times and making sharp business decisions. In reality, the NFTs involved 3D graphics of the singer giving birth to insects and plants. Yes, you heard us. Literally giving birth to them. Despite her attempts to explain it, this went down just about as poorly as expected. Lets be real, no one wants or needs to see that.

#4: Kanye West Interrupts Taylor Swift

On the long list of crazy things Kanye West has done, his 2009 VMAs outburst might seem a little tame. Despite the downward spiral he has put himself on these days, weve come to expect that from Kanye. Back in 09, watching him interrupt Taylor Swifts acceptance speech to voice his own opinion on who should have won was so out of left field. We all knew he was brash and pretty out of touch anyway. Even by his standards, though, blatantly ruining Swifts special moment to make the whole thing about himself was a new level of obnoxiousness.

#3: Scooter Braun Buys Taylor Swifts Masters

Scooter Braun surely thought that he was making the business move of the century when he decided to buy the masters for Taylor Swifts first six studio albums. Sure, Taylor herself wanted to buy them and retain control, but in the end, Braun won at the negotiating table. What he likely didnt anticipate was the huge public backlash he received as a result. We all know just how passionate Taylors fans are - and once Swift labelled him as manipulative in the media, his reputation was forever ruined. To make matters worse, Swift went on to re-record the albums in their entirety and eventually, when Braun decided to sell up, she bought the masters back for herself, coming out on top emphatically.

#2: Ja Rule & Fyre Festival

Aligning yourself with a conman like Billy McFarland is always going to have a catastrophic effect on your reputation. For Ja Rule, becoming a major spokesman for the soon-to-be-doomed Fyre Festival was a hilarious misstep. Fyre Festival saw McFarland dupe a whole bunch of ticket-holders into attending a festival that did not truly exist. A schedule was promised that was never kept. Scheduled artists were never going to show up were scheduled, and even basic amenities were virtually non-existent. The whole thing was a plot by McFarland to defraud investors, and for Ja Rule. Although he was sued alongside the co-creator, he was later dismissed from the suit. Whether he was also duped or genuinely complicit, the damage to his reputation was done.

#1: U2's Gift To The Masses

The general consensus on U2 frontman Bono is that he has an inflated sense of his own importance. When he and his band decided to team up with Apple to release U2s latest album to every iTunes Store customer on the planet, Bono probably thought it was genius. The problem? Well, a lot of people woke up one morning with U2s Songs of Innocence on their iPhone without their consent. to make matters worse, at first, they couldnt choose to delete it. What was intended as a gift ended up being perceived as an ego-maniac forcing his music onto your device without ever asking permission. Eventually, Bono apologised and took the blame, but people still mock U2 about it to this day.

Be sure to let us know in the comments below if we missed any other hilariously misguided decisions from musicians!