For better or worse, some musical acts will almost NEVER play their popular hit song in concert . . . because they CAN’T STAND IT anymore.
People.com put together a list of ’12 Artists Who Really Hate Their Massive Hit Song,’ and they are . . .
1. Radiohead, “Creep”. They’ve ignored it for most of the past decade . . . but Thom Yorke’s position on the song is softening. Earlier this year, he said, quote, “It can be cool sometimes, but other times I want to stop halfway through and be like, ‘Nah, this isn’t happening.'”
2. Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”. Of course, Zeppelin isn’t playing ANYTHING live these days, but 30 years ago, Robert Plant said, quote, “I’d break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show.”
3. Madonna, “Like a Virgin”. She has performed it in concert on occasion, but she’s talked about how she doesn’t like it, and can’t stand to hear it on the radio.
4. Oasis, “Wonderwall”. Liam and Noel Gallagher don’t agree on much of anything, but they’ve BOTH talked about how they dislike “Wonderwall”.
5. Miley Cyrus, “Party in the U.S.A.”. She once said she only recorded the song because she needed something to go with her clothing line. But she didn’t write it, and she said, quote, “That’s not who I am, that’s not where I want to sing, that’s not what I want to sing, and that’s not what I want my voice to sound like.”
6. Beastie Boys, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)”. They stopped wanting to perform it when they realized that people didn’t get the sarcasm. It was supposed to be a parody of a frat-boy party anthem, not an actual party anthem.
7. Lady Gaga, “Telephone”. She has said that she “hates” the song, not necessarily because of the song itself, but because she has a bad “emotional connection” to it. Apparently, it was stressful to record and produce. By the way, it has nothing to do with Beyoncé, who’s on the track with her.
8. Neil Young, “Heart of Gold”. He stopped performing the song 40 years ago, probably because it became TOO big. He’s called the song a “bore,” and has talked about his complicated relationship with it.
9. R.E.M., “Shiny Happy People”. The label had asked them to do an up-tempo pop song, and even though it was a hit, Michael Stipe isn’t a fan. He’s said, quote, “It’s a fruity pop song written for children.”
10. Mandy Moore, “Candy”. Now that she’s acting, she doesn’t need to sell her musical career anymore. A while back she said, quote, “Ugh, those were awful . . . if I had the money, I’d give a refund to everyone who bought my first two albums.”
11. Warrant, “Cherry Pie”. Jani Lane wrote it because the label wanted a “rock anthem.” He once said, quote, “I had no intention of writing that song. I could shoot myself in the [effing] head for writing that song.”
12. Frank Sinatra, “Strangers in the Night”. Frank INTENSELY hated the song, and he wasn’t shy about telling everyone about it. He’d still perform it, although he’d sometimes tell the crowd how he felt about it before launching into it.
(For more on each song, hit up People.com.)
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