5 Bands Who Hated Their Biggest Hit
A song you hate becoming a massive hit is a pretty nice problem to have. Namely, because that means you had a massive hit. You could also just as easily be playing songs you hate for almost no money at all, like every wedding band.
Still, plenty of the world’s biggest musical artists have griped about their catalog falling victim to a sort of musical Murphy’s Law, where their least favorite song becomes the one they’re known for. All in all, my take on it is: It’s four minutes of a two-hour concert and it makes people happy, so suck it up.
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Either way, here are five famous bands who despise their biggest hits…
Beastie Boys: ‘Fight for Your Right (To Party)’
Not only is “Fight for Your Right (To Party)” one of the Beastie Boys’ biggest hits, it’s also directly tied into the public image of them — something that has to sting doubly, given that the song was supposed to be sarcastic. Satire’s a dangerous game when you’re making anything produced for mass consumption, since the masses aren’t known for their critical thinking skills.
The song was supposed to make fun of frat culture, but instead became a frat party anthem, and gave the artists themselves a frat boy image. It’s basically the song version of those guys who didn’t get that Stifler from American Pie is a bad person.
Madonna: ‘Like A Virgin’
You’ve achieved a bona-fide phenomenon when a song’s enough of a cultural phenomenon that it's being discussed in movies that are a hit in their own right. Unfortunately, audiences aren’t the only ones who get tired of a song being overplayed, and apparently, Madonna hit her limit on “Like A Virgin” listens a long time ago.
Being that it was her first number one hit, you’d think that hearing it would bring about warm, nostalgic feelings. Unfortunately, everybody else thinks the same thing, and she says she’s basically bombarded by that song in particular. “For some reason, people think that when you go to a restaurant or you’re going shopping that you want to hear one of your own songs. It's usually ‘Like A Virgin’ — and that is the one I don’t want to hear,” she has explained.
Though, I hear “Like A Virgin” basically every time I’m in a mall, and they’re definitely not playing it for me, so maybe it’s an imagined slight.
Led Zeppelin: ‘Stairway to Heaven’
Cue the meme of the Predator handshake, where one arm says “Led Zeppelin,” the other says “Guitar store employees” and they meet in the middle where it says, “Never want to hear ‘Stairway to Heaven’ again.”
Specifically, singer Robert Plant isn’t a fan of the song, an opinion that’s only hardened with time. He even donated $1,000 to a radio show when they made “never playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’ again” a donation goal. He also said he'd break out in hives if he had to sing that song in every show, which is bad news, because he absolutely does. That’s half the ticket price, my guy.
The worst part about it being ‘Stairway’ in particular? Any time Plant hears that opening lick, he knows he’s in for over eight minutes of agony.
Radiohead: ‘Creep’
If you ever saw Radiohead, you probably didn’t hear “Creep.” Radiohead famously avoided playing the song live, partly because Thom Yorke said that people would leave the concert after hearing it.
Some members hated the song before it was even on tape, however — especially guitarist Jonny Greenwood — which resulted in an incredibly amusing musical monkey’s paw sort of curse. Greenwood thought the song was too quiet and boring, so he inserted loud, screeching palm mutes. The same squealing chugs that are now maybe the most iconic part of the song.
Oasis: ‘Wonderwall’
The Gallagher brothers hate “Wonderwall.” In fairness, though, they hate pretty much everything else, too.
