These disgraced musicians ruined everything for their bandmates. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at some of the worst instances of bands dissolving or losing their reputation thanks to the actions of one disgraced member.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at some of the worst instances of bands dissolving
00:14or losing their reputation thanks to the actions of one disgraced member.
00:20We know, if not intellectually, we know instinctively that this is wrong.
00:28Five Finger Death Punch – Ivan Moody One of the most successful heavy metal bands
00:40of the 2010s, Five Finger Death Punch is tarnished by the controversial actions of frontman Ivan
00:47Moody.
00:48Moody was nearly fired from the band in the early 2010s, citing his alcohol use disorder
00:54and his subsequent erratic on-stage behavior.
01:03This behavior often disappointed fans, like when he cut a concert in Worcester short by
01:08falsely claiming that his mother was dying.
01:11In reality, he was too inebriated to continue performing.
01:15Moody has also faced a number of personal and legal issues, like continuously abusing
01:20his ex-wife, assaulting a flight attendant, and receiving restraining orders from his
01:25own mother and sister.
01:32Luckily Moody is not currently using substances and attempting to fix the band's reputation.
01:47Various – Johnny Craig Some people are so contentious that they
01:51ruin every band they're in, or were in.
01:54That's the case with vocalist Johnny Craig.
02:03He has been the subject of many allegations and run-ins with the law.
02:07For example, he stole thousands of dollars by pretending to sell a used MacBook on Twitter
02:13in order to fund his substance abuse disorder.
02:15He was subsequently kicked out of Dance Gavin Dance and Emma Rosa.
02:26Craig's time in the band Slaves was also marred by controversy, as multiple women,
02:31including his ex-fiancee, have accused Craig of sexual assault.
02:35This led to the band being dropped from their record label.
02:37They changed their name to Rain City Drive after becoming the third band to fire Craig
02:42in scandal.
02:49Gorgoroth – Gaal Several Scandinavian black metal bands are
02:59represented on this list.
03:00Norwegian group Gorgoroth has faced a number of negative headlines throughout the years,
03:05with many stemming from former frontman Gaal.
03:16Real name Christian Espadar, Gaal has been to prison at least twice for assault.
03:21The first sentence was handed down in 2002, and the next in 2004.
03:26In the latter incident, Gaal reportedly kept his victim prisoner and abused him for lengthy
03:31periods of time while collecting his blood in a cup.
03:37He was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
03:40Not long after, Gaal attempted to remove founding member Infernus from the group, but this only
03:45resulted in his own termination.
03:47Dissection – Jan Nordveit We go from Norway to Sweden for Dissection,
03:53which was co-founded by Jan Nordveit in the late 80s.
04:00The band released two albums, but hit a major impasse in 1997, when Nordveit was sent to
04:05prison for murder.
04:07In the summer of that year, a gay Algerian man named Youssef Ben Medour was found dead
04:12in Gothenburg's Kehler's Park.
04:14The two perpetrators were Nordveit and another metal musician named Vlad, who supposedly
04:19killed the man owing to their homophobic beliefs.
04:30Nordveit was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was released early in 2004.
04:35Dissection released one more album following his release, but split for good in 2006.
04:41Less than two months after their final show, Nordveit took his own life.
04:49Headly – Jacob Hogarth Headly was enormously popular in their native
05:00Canada, scoring 9 top 10 hits.
05:03Part of this success is due to their music, while part of it stems from the popularity
05:07of frontman Jacob Hogarth, who competed on Canadian Idol back in 2004.
05:17However, the band's career came to a startling end in 2018, when multiple members were accused
05:23of sexual misconduct.
05:25They admitted that they engaged in certain rock and roll cliches, but denied that they
05:30did anything illegal.
05:32Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with Hogarth, who was personally charged with sexual
05:36assault and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
05:39In the midst of the controversy, Headly was fired by their management team and entered
05:44an indefinite hiatus.
05:46The judge also told the court that while 38-year-old Hogarth is no longer a rock star, having lost
05:51his career as a singer with the band Headly as a result of these charges, she believes
05:55that Hogarth still poses a risk in the future.
05:57Emperor – Faust We return to Norwegian black metal for the
06:01story of Faust.
06:07Faust was heavily involved in the black metal scene, providing the lyrics for Zyklon and
06:12drumming for Emperor.
06:13Their debut album, In The Nightside Eclipse, was released in 1994, and is widely considered
06:19one of the most influential black metal albums in history.
06:23Unfortunately, Faust wasn't around to enjoy it.
06:34Back in 1992, Faust killed a gay man named Magne Andreassen after being propositioned.
06:40He later confessed to the murder and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
06:44He served nine.
06:52And while Emperor is still highly regarded within the black metal scene, Faust's time
06:56with the band is regarded as an unfortunate sore spot.
07:00The Mamas and the Papas – John Phillips A major part of the late 60s counterculture,
07:06The Mamas and the Papas scored six top ten singles, including the multi-platinum California
07:11Dreamin'.
07:17The band was led by John Phillips, who passed away in 2001 at the age of 65.
07:22But both his and the band's reputation took a major hit in 2009.
07:27That's when his daughter Mackenzie revealed that she and her father shared an inappropriate
07:31relationship throughout the 70s and 80s.
07:45She also claims that Phillips injected her with various substances, and may have even
07:49fathered a child with her.
07:51But she received an abortion before the child was born.
07:54Some people, including Phillips' ex-wives and Mackenzie's half-sister, deny the allegations.
08:12Others, including Phillips' bandmate Denny Doherty, have corroborated the story.
08:16Mayhem – Varg Vikernes Mayhem was hugely influential within the
08:21black metal scene, but infamous for their many gruesome scandals.
08:32The breaking point came after Varg Vikernes of the acclaimed solo project Burzum joined
08:37the band on bass.
08:39His volatile relationship with Euronymous, real name Einstein Orschet, ended with Vikernes
08:45murdering the guitarist during an altercation on August 10, 1993.
08:50One of the biggest scandals in black metal history temporarily broke up Mayhem and landed
08:55the killer in prison until 2009.
08:58But that's not all.
09:09Vikernes also has a history of church arson and extremist ideology, even founding a neo-Nazi
09:16organization while in prison.
09:18Despite the cultural importance of his work with Burzum and Mayhem, the already controversial
09:23music is further blackened by Vikernes' name.
09:37As I Lay Dying – Tim Lambesis One of the essential metalcore bands, As I
09:42Lay Dying has been nominated for a Grammy and their albums In Ocean Between Us and The
09:47Powerless Rise hit the top 10 on the Billboard 200.
09:56But their output slowed in the 2010s.
09:59And that's thanks to the actions of frontman Tim Lambesis.
10:02In May of 2013, Lambesis hired a hitman to kill his ex-wife Megan Murphy.
10:08Fortunately for his wife, this hitman was an undercover police officer, and Lambesis
10:13was arrested for soliciting murder.
10:24He pled guilty and was sentenced to 6 years in prison, but he served only 2 and has since
10:29returned to the band.
10:51Lost Prophets – Ian Watkins Lost Prophets was on an upward trajectory
10:56until frontman Ian Watkins ruined it all.
11:07The band saw great success in the 2000s, scoring 2 UK top 10s and selling over 3 million albums.
11:14And then the horrible news broke.
11:21The world learned the disgusting truth about Watkins on December 19, 2012.
11:26And while the charges are way too awful to relay here, they were enough to send him away
11:31for almost 3 decades.
11:33The band released a statement distancing themselves from Watkins, and they officially disbanded
11:38in October 2013.
11:46As for Watkins, he pled guilty and was given 29 years in prison.
11:50With the judge claiming that his story plunged into new deaths of depravity.
11:55Do you still listen to these bands, despite the controversy?
11:58Let us know in the comments below.