You’re Fired! A Few Of Music’s Most Memorable Sackings (Feature)
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Written by Rob Sleigh
Well, The Apprentice is over for another year and, once again, Lord Sugar is done giving the boot to another group of hopeless, young wannabe execs in spectacular fashion. As this year’s winner Tom Pellereau looks ahead to make the most of his new break into the business world, we take a look back at some of history’s most widely-publicised sackings – in the music world. Over the years, fans of rock and pop have been witness to a number of high-profile elbowings in the public eye – ouch! Some, shocking… Others, less so. Here is a list of a few such occasions, where band members on the road to fame and glory have had to make an early stop thanks to those two fateful words – “You’re fired!”
Robbie Williams (Take That)
Amidst Take That’s current sell-out stadium tour across Europe, things are looking pretty rosy for Robbie and co at the moment. 16 years ago, however, things weren’t looking quite so good for young Mr Williams. After three rewarding years riding the fame train, during which time the quintet pretty much owned the Number One spot, things suddenly came to a disastrous head. Following a string of personal issues that had begun to affect Robbie’s involvement in the group, Gary Barlow and the rest of Take That suggested that it might be wise for him to step aside. He opted to concede and, while the rest of the band ended up calling it a day the following year anyway, Robbie’s solo career escalated. Still, everyone’s happy now.
Geri Halliwell (Spice Girls)
Just a couple of years after the conclusion of Take That, another ‘90s pop phenomenon the Spice Girls suffered a similar occurrence, when one of their key members Geri Halliwell – aka Ginger Spice – announced she would be leaving the group. Although her initial explanation cited personal reasons, the rumour mill suggested that pressures from within the band had forced her to make her decision. As with Take That, the Spice Girls couldn’t last as a four-piece and their success story was soon over. Nine years later, following the response to Take That’s reunion, the girls felt that it was time for a full-on ‘90s pop revival and reformed the group for a world tour. However, unlike Gary and the boys, who are still enjoying their own Second Coming five years on, the Spice Girls’ barely lasted two. The decision to cancel the tour early led to the inevitable gossip, which suggested that all was not well within the band. Oh well, never mind.
Pete Doherty (The Libertines)
Good old Pete has never been one to let us down when it comes to public displays of controversy and his previous struggles as a member of The Libertines were no exception. When the London-based group first found fame in 2002, following the release of their debut album ‘Up The Bracket’, Doherty’s cheeky, bad-boy charm was one of the main reasons behind the band’s appeal. However, the seemingly perfect rock and roll dream was soon to come to an end in 2003 when, after some widely-documented problems related to the singer’s drug use, he was arrested and jailed for burgling bandmate Carl Barat’s flat. Miraculously, all was forgiven upon Doherty’s release a few months later, but it wasn’t to last. Partway into recording sessions for the second Libertines album, Pete was thrown out of the band again, never to return. Well, not for a while anyway.
Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath) There aren’t many rock icons out there that could beat Pete Doherty’s reputation for getting thrown out of their own band, with one notable exception – John Michael Osbourne aka The Prince of Darkness. Most groups consider their lead singer to be their most distinguishing and irreplaceable ingredient – the cog without which the whole operation would fall apart. However, in Ozzy’s case, his former band Black Sabbath decided it was worth taking that risk. In 1979, after eight albums and eight years of being one of the biggest rock bands in the world, guitarist Tony Iommi and the rest of Black Sabbath decided to fire Ozzy from the band due to his continued unreliability and excessive drug and alcohol consumption. Although many Sabbath fans were up in arms at the time, the group quickly went on to record two hugely successful albums with the late, great Ronnie James Dio, who replaced Ozzy as lead vocalist.
Graham Coxon (Blur)
As we have seen from some of the above examples, when a band loses on of its key members, the end is almost certainly nigh. When Graham Coxon parted ways with Blur in 2002, the outcome was equally inevitable. Having been with the band since its inception in 1989, Coxon’s lone guitar-playing had become one of the most recognisable features behind Blur’s music. From the opening chords of ‘Parklife’ and ‘There’s No Other Way’ to the heavy rock riffage of ‘Song 2’, there was never any doubt that he was one of the most important members of the group. After he was asked to leave the band during the recording of their seventh album ‘Think Tank’, it was clear from the result that Blur would never be the same again. Their recent reunion shows may have brought back some fantastic memories to fans and band members alike, but it also acted as a sad reminder of what we’d lost.
Shane MacGowan (The Pogues)
Like Ozzy Osbourne before him, The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan has become well-known for his use of various substances – mainly alcohol, in his case - over the years. Unlike Ozzy, however, MacGowan does not appear to have cleaned up his act and yet, somehow, he still continues to walk the earth. As with the Prince of Darkness and Black Sabbath, The Pogues had grown tired of MacGowan’s continued lack of reliability and eventually decided to try their luck without him. It lasted for a while, with former Clash frontman Joe Strummer even standing in at one point, but the fairytale of The Pogues soon came to an end. Ten years after MacGowan’s departure, the band reformed for their first ever Christmas tour in 2001. Shane hadn’t changed much in the previous decade, but enough people found it enjoyable to keep coming back for a few more years. The Christmas tours may be over, but The Pogues are still here and, most importantly, so is Shane MacGowan.
Mick Jones (The Clash)
So, we’ve seen what can happen when bands sack their lead singers, but what about the other members of the group? As with Blur years later, when Clash guitarist Mick Jones was thrown out of the band in 1983, fans were left wondering whether the influential punk rock group could continue without him. They were right to be doubtful – The Clash’s next album after Jones’s expulsion, 1985’s ‘Cut the Crap’, has since gone down in musical history as something of a disaster. Of course, this may not have been caused solely by the departure of Mick Jones. After all, The Clash had been going for almost 10 years by that point and were arguably past their best. But you never know.
Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd)
Although Pink Floyd’s original frontman Syd Barrett was only present on the band’s first two albums, long before the height of their success during the ‘70s, he is still recognised today as one of their most important and influential members. His use of psychedelic drugs during the ‘60s is well documented, but it was the effect that they seemed to have on his mental health during that time that was the cause of his eventual removal from the group. When Barrett finally agreed to leave Pink Floyd in 1968, it was David Gilmour, their better-known guitarist, who replaced him. Syd, however, is still fondly remembered by many Floyd fans today and the band paid tribute to him in their song ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’.
Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age)
Singer sackings… Guitarist sackings… What’s next? Let’s end with a bass player. Anyone that heard about last week’s arrest of former QOTSA bassist Nick Oliveri by a SWAT team will probably agree that he seems like an interesting character. And you’d be right. The vocal and writing contributions he made to the band’s 2000 and 2002 albums ‘Rated R’ and ‘Songs for the Deaf’ helped to earn Queens of the Stone Age recognition for making two of the most important rock albums of the decade. Although the band have continued to do well since Oliveri’s departure, the chemistry between frontman Josh Homme and the more recent members of the group was never quite there.
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There aren’t many rock icons out there that could beat Pete Doherty’s reputation for getting thrown out of their own band, with one notable exception – John Michael Osbourne aka The Prince of Darkness. Most groups consider their lead singer to be their most distinguishing and irreplaceable ingredient – the cog without which the whole operation would fall apart. However, in Ozzy’s case, his former band Black Sabbath decided it was worth taking that risk. In 1979, after eight albums and eight years of being one of the biggest rock bands in the world, guitarist Tony Iommi and the rest of Black Sabbath decided to fire Ozzy from the band due to his continued unreliability and excessive drug and alcohol consumption. Although many Sabbath fans were up in arms at the time, the group quickly went on to record two hugely successful albums with the late, great Ronnie James Dio, who replaced Ozzy as lead vocalist. 
