Great music by performed by jerks!

[Nukie 2]

Come on we all have some guilty pleasures, namely great music performed by jerks or bands full of them!
Name one or some!

I love the music of Burzum, but I can't disagree more with the musician (Varg Vikerness) who writes all the songs!
I think calling him a jerk would actually downplay what he's done, and what he believes.

[Rev. Powell]

Charles Mingus, one of the greatest jazz composers in history. 




He was notorious for insulting and assaulting his fellow musicians.  He punched trombonist Jimmy Knepper in the mouth for not working hard enough: broke his tooth and nearly ruined his career.  There are stories of him chasing his sidemen off the stage during live performances when he thought their solos were subpar. 

[diamondwaspvenom]

Yngwie Malmsteen



This guy is notorious for being one of the biggest ego-maniacs in all of heavy metal. While his music is okay for the most part (99% of his solos sound the same), Yngwie likes to think that he's the best thing since sliced bread. The man can't even take good criticism.

[retrorussell]

This @$$h*le completely fits the mold..

[Allhallowsday]

This @$$h*le completely fits the mold..

Did you know him personally?  Hmmm...??    (Okay, okay!  I read "No Here Gets Out Alive"!)
DON VAN VLIET (CAPTAIN BEEFHEART) may have been difficult to work with (hence the infamous falling out he'd had with FRANK ZAPPA). 

[Nukie 2]

DON VAN VLIET (CAPTAIN BEEFHEART) may have been difficult to work with (hence the infamous falling out he'd had with FRANK ZAPPA). 

Really! That's interesting, what happened?

[Flick James]

Axl Rose. Great music, amazing jerk.

[BTM]

Axl Rose. Great music, amazing jerk.

I was going to mention him, but you beat me to it!  :)

[Mr. DS]

Axl Rose. Great music, amazing jerk.

Know whats funny, I never liked him as a frontman.  I actually quite liked Slash and the guys but always thought they would've faired better with a different lead singer.

[retrorussell]

Pete Ham of Badfinger and Brian Connolly of Sweet had their moments due to alcoholism.. same as Johnny Cash (in addition to cocaine).

[Flick James]

Axl Rose. Great music, amazing jerk.

Know whats funny, I never liked him as a frontman.  I actually quite liked Slash and the guys but always thought they would've faired better with a different lead singer.

Hey, that's cool. I could never picture another voice on Appetite for Destruction of Use Your Illusion, so I can't agree totally, I just thought he was a douchebag otherwise.

[Allhallowsday]

DON VAN VLIET (CAPTAIN BEEFHEART) may have been difficult to work with (hence the infamous falling out he'd had with FRANK ZAPPA). 

Really! That's interesting, what happened?

Don't know; I wasn't there.    I do know that they toured together in the mid '70s and after many years of friendship and working together, got to a point where they did not have very high opinions of each other.  I will say that CAPTAIN BEEFHEART the musician owes a lot to ZAPPA. 

[retrorussell]

Apparently Chuck Berry was quite the jerk.. even Bruce Springsteen, who backed him in the '70s, stated that he always expected the band to follow his lead with every song without ever giving them a set list, and would never thank the band or even talk to them after a show.
And in the '80s, he bought a restaurant and installed a video camera in the ladies restroom.  He claimed he wanted to catch an employee he thought was stealing from the restaurant, but boy, even if those were his true intentions, that's pretty damn stupid..

[Psycho Circus]

Phil Collins

[ChaosTheory]

Lars Ulrich

John Lennon had kind of a tendency to act like other people's feelings didn't exist (Exhibit A: the story of how "Hey Jude" came to be)

The greatness is debatable in this case, but Eminem is a massive jerk.