They say you should never meet your heroes, but it really just depends on who your heroes are. Some musicians are famous for being extremely friendly and gracious with their fans, but a few are not exactly known to be fan-friendly.
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00:00Musicians, especially rock stars, are well-known for their outrageous personalities.
00:05And while some can turn off their self-absorbed rock-and-roll personas offstage, others are
00:10just plain rotten, whether they're shredding at the Hollywood Bowl or buying groceries.
00:14Avoid these controversial musicians at all costs.
00:17The world of metal isn't exactly known for subtlety or a gentle persuasion, but you may
00:22be surprised at how many growling metal frontmen are thoughtful and caring people.
00:26Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying is not one of those people.
00:29A popular Christian rock singer from Carlsbad is now admitting he hired a hitman to kill
00:34his wife.
00:35In May 2013, Lambesis solicited someone to off his wife of eight years, offering a cool
00:41thousand dollars and detailed instructions on how to go about doing it.
00:45His wife, Megan, had filed for divorce the previous year, but that's the only nugget
00:49of speculation as to why he wanted to have the mother of his three adopted children murdered.
00:54The only problem was that the person he was enlisting to carry out this grim act was actually
00:59an undercover police officer.
01:01He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years but ended up serving just under
01:05three, gaining release in December 2016.
01:08As for his band?
01:09Well, he's back fronting the group who supported him during his trial and jailing.
01:13Compassionate friends?
01:15You decide.
01:16Eric Clapton
01:17Fans of rock music perennially hold Eric Clapton in the highest esteem when it comes to listing
01:21off the greatest guitarists in history.
01:24It's fair to include him in those arguments, as he's written some of the most timeless
01:27songs and is known for some of the most classic riffs and solos ever.
01:31It's when he talks out loud that things sometimes take a turn.
01:35Clapton has usually been the first to admit that he's greatly indebted to the black blues
01:39musicians who came before him, but if they had been privy to his outburst at a 1976 concert
01:45in Birmingham, England, they might not have been so keen to let him fly their flag.
01:50During his outburst, a drug and booze-addled Clapton shouted to his concert crowd to, quote,
01:55"...keep Britain white!"
01:56He also announced his support of Enoch Powell.
01:59If you don't know who that is, look him up yourself and see how that flied today.
02:02If you didn't look it up, let's just spit it out for you.
02:05He made it very clear that he did not want people of color in what he thought should
02:09be a white country.
02:10The years since have seen Clapton very apologetic, blaming his addiction for his behavior.
02:15But even in remorse, he can't quite avoid putting his foot in his mouth, saying things
02:19like, quote, "...half of my friends were black," and, quote, "...I dated a black woman."
02:24Oof.
02:25Not a good look, dude.
02:26Not a good look.
02:28Sebastian Bach
02:29Sebastian Bach, the frontman of 80s and 90s hair metal veteran Skid Row, holds a special
02:33place in the hearts of music fans, despite having a dicey history offstage.
02:37Bach wore a T-shirt in 1989 that mocked the AIDS crisis.
02:40"...and you know on the Raid logo it says, kills Boggs dead underneath it.
02:44Well this says, AIDS kills f-----g dead."
02:47And that same year chucked a bottle from the stage that ended up breaking a woman's
02:51nose.
02:52He didn't exactly have the most peaceful 1989.
02:54In 2010, Bach was visiting a bar with live music in his Ontario hometown.
02:59Bach asked the singer if he and his buddies could come up and sing a little bit, and the
03:03musician directed him to the pub's manager.
03:06This didn't go over well with Bach.
03:08Not sure why a local entertainer wouldn't want the singer of a world-famous rock band
03:12to join him?
03:13Bach and his group began to loudly heckle the artist, even throwing ice cubes at him
03:18from their seats.
03:19The staff at the pub understandably grew more nervous, and eventually asked Bach's party
03:23to leave.
03:24The Skid Row singer wanted to take his wine with him, and when that request was denied,
03:29Bach smashed the glass, prompting the owner to call the cops.
03:32Unsurprisingly, Sebastian also took offense to that, the owner put him in a bear hug,
03:37and Bach bit him.
03:38After he cooled down, Bach had the usual Canadian sense of humor about the whole incident, saying,
03:43quote, "'America gets rock stars a little more than Canada does.'"
03:47The frontman of the traveling foursome of hedonism that is Motley Crue is someone you
03:51would probably expect to be a little… wild.
03:54But Vince Neil takes that stage character and ramps it up even higher when he's in the
03:58real world.
03:59You may have heard how Vince crashed his car in 1984 while boozed up, killing his passenger,
04:04Hanoi rock drummer Nicholas Razzledingli.
04:07He got off almost completely scot-free, serving about 15 days and then five years of probation.
04:13He earned himself a few more DUIs over the years, one in 2007 and another in 2010.
04:18But it's a Las Vegas altercation involving actor Nicolas Cage that's the most curious.
04:23A young female fan was attempting to ask Cage for an autograph, which Neil somehow mistook
04:28as an aggressive maneuver and yanked her by the hair, pulling her to the ground.
04:32The seemingly intoxicated Neil was then charged at by an even more in-the-bag Nicolas Cage,
04:38who pulled Neil away and bear-hugged him, loudly stating his love for the man.
04:43Cage escorted the singer away from trouble, but Neil was still charged with misdemeanor
04:46battery.
04:47Kanye is often lauded as a musical and production genius.
04:52His larger-than-life ego fully believes this, and he acts like it when he takes the stage.
04:57Well, to be more accurate, whenever he feels like rolling up to the venue and eventually
05:00sauntering onto the stage, because Kanye is perpetually late for his job.
05:05Never one to shy away from taking the stage several hours late, or going on bizarre rants
05:10between songs, or even canceling shows on the fly, Wes still has fans in his corner
05:15for some reason.
05:16Honestly, we don't understand how you can support a dude who does things like, oh, we
05:20don't know, berate a person with a disability for not standing up?
05:24In 2014, Kanye was feeling very much in the moment and requested that every single person
05:30in the crowd stand up.
05:31He felt that not everyone was partaking, so he stopped the show for a bit and had the
05:36house lights turned on.
05:37The fans at the Sydney concert just weren't meeting his demands, it seemed, and he stated
05:42that he literally could not perform this song until everyone rose.
05:47One fan couldn't help it.
05:48They were in a wheelchair.
05:49Wes continually brought it to the crowd's attention that this person just wasn't following
05:54his orders, despite concertgoers near the fan trying to point out that this person,
05:58you know, physically could not stand up.
06:01Wes, after way too long, finally took the hint and let the person off blast.
06:07That brush with idiocy didn't teach him any lessons, as another show in Australia a few
06:11days later saw Wes telling the audience that people who weren't standing needed to show
06:15him proof of disability, whatever that means.
06:18Billy Idol seems to be one of those rock stars who would likely leave his image behind when
06:23he steps offstage.
06:24Sure, he seems cool and sexy and slightly dangerous when he's crooked-lipped pruning
06:28white wedding for thousands of people, but you can imagine him quietly retiring to his
06:33hotel room for some tea after a show.
06:35At least, that's what you'd think, if it weren't for his notorious behavior during his stay
06:40in Bangkok in the early 90s.
06:42Idol cooped himself up in a series of hotels and engaged in an extended binge of debauchery
06:47that would make Satan weep.
06:49Somehow during his wild fling, he found time during his three-week stay to do a reported
06:54$200,000 worth of damage to one penthouse suite.
06:58As is to be expected when Billy Idol is partaking in drugs and sex and ransacking rooms, the
07:03military was brought in to help matters.
07:06Idol was strapped to a stretcher by soldiers of the Thai military and forcibly dismissed
07:10from the premises.
07:11Boy George
07:12Boy George was the androgynous leader of the 80s band Culture Club.
07:16Known for his flamboyant behavior, the singer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, also privately
07:21suffered from a crippling drug addiction throughout his later career.
07:25Several incidents involved him possessing cocaine or admitting to being on heroin during
07:29his 80s success, but most of them involved him hurting only himself.
07:33That changed in 2009 when Boy George was attempting to conduct a naked photo session in his home
07:39with a male escort.
07:40Cocaine soon entered the equation, and a little later, Boy George became increasingly agitated
07:45with the man, accusing him of trying to hack into his computer.
07:48When the escort tried to protest, George handcuffed him to a wall fixture and retreated to another
07:53room, returning with all sorts of straps, adult toys, and chains.
07:57The rock star then began beating the escort with said chains.
08:01The poor man eventually broke free and fled into the streets.
08:05O'Dowd earned himself a 15-month prison sentence, but celebrity being what it is, he only served
08:10four.
08:11R.E.M.
08:12The band R.E.M. has made a pretty good career of making music while also sidestepping a
08:15lot of the notoriety and scandals that can plague a rock band.
08:19Really, the most behind-the-music-y episode of their career is when their poor drummer
08:23suffered an aneurysm on stage in the 90s.
08:26But in 2002, guitarist Peter Buck embarked on a flight and attempted to make up for all
08:31those years of boring good behavior at once.
08:34On the Seattle-to-London plane ride, Buck began downing wine like it was the end of
08:38the world, chugging 15 glasses and becoming increasingly belligerent to the flight staff.
08:43He was cut off — see, too little too late in the dictionary — but the shenanigans
08:47didn't stop there.
08:48He tried to grab a bottle of champagne from the galley but was denied.
08:51He punched the wall of the plane loudly and tried to pull a knife from a serving cart.
08:55He brandished a cup of yogurt and spoon like they were weapons, and splattered several
09:00people with the dairy product.
09:01Buck then tried to open the plane door, saying he was, quote, going home.
09:05At one point, he confused a serving cart with a CD player and also claimed a perfect stranger
09:10was his wife.
09:12These mile-high adventures should have made the assault charges levied against him stick,
09:16but alas, Peter Buck was found innocent.
09:19You might think being shot nine times would give you a more positive outlook on life,
09:23like in a live-well-and-be-good-to-people way, especially toward your own children and
09:28maybe strangers you meet during your travels.
09:30But 50 Cent, or Curtis Jackson, still harbors resentment toward many, blood relative or
09:35not, and he's not afraid to speak openly about his grudges.
09:3950 Cent has a son named Marquise, and to say they're estranged is a bit of an understatement.
09:44The two have been at odds for over a decade, and when 50 saw an Instagram post of a 21-year-old
09:49Marquise in 2018, he publicly commented that if his son got hit by a bus, he, quote, wouldn't
09:55have a bad day.
09:56Can you feel the love?
09:58If you were feeling left out, the rapper can also turn his ire toward the general public.
10:02He went on live video to mock a teenage airport employee, thinking he would razz on the youth
10:07of today.
10:08He even put the kid on blast in the video, even as the poor guy just tried to avoid eye
10:12contact and work his job.
10:1450 took this behavior as being on drugs, stating that the teen's pupils were dilated as definitive
10:20proof.
10:22He hot as a motherf---- right here in the airport.
10:27Pupils dilated and everything looking like this."
10:29The video went viral, and attracted the attention of many, including the teen's parents, who
10:33pointed out that their son was not a druggie but did have autism and social anxiety.
10:3850 eventually gave a weak apology.
10:40Maybe he'll get some dope rhymes out of the whole ordeal, but probably not.