Every actor dreams of finally landing the “big role.” It’s the role that will make them stars, earn them millions of dollars, and finally get them those award nominations. Relatively few actors are lucky enough to ever land that role. That’s just the nature of the business. What’s more remarkable is that some actors do land that role and go on to resent it.

For some, those roles end up reminding the actors of bad times in their lives. Other actors later realize that those roles put them on a bad path. Of course, there are always actors who simply feel that their performances in those movies—or even the movies themselves—were simply never that good. For many reasons, these are some of the most notable actors who resent some of their most famous roles.

Related: 10 Things Famous Filmmakers Regret About Their Classic Movies

10 Burt Reynolds–Boogie Nights

After rising to superstardom in the 1970s and early ’80s, actor Burt Reynolds appeared in a series of box office bombs that tanked his name value. When up-and-coming director Paul Thomas Anderson offered Reynolds a role in his 1997 movie Boogie Nights, he essentially gave Reynolds a chance to prove he was still a star. Boogie Nights went on to be a massive hit, and Reynolds received the first and only Academy Award nomination of his career for his portrayal of the fictional porn director Jack Horner.

Yet Reynolds despised working on Boogie Nights and struggled to find anything nice to say about the film even after it earned him an Oscar nomination. Reynolds later said that he had little respect for Anderson and felt that the director was “full of himself.” Some of Reynold’s co-stars think that the actor was simply too out of touch to appreciate the film and understand why it was so successful.^[1]

9 Viola Davis–The Help

In The Help, Viola Davis plays an African-American maid working for a family in the Deep South during the 1960s. Davis’s work in the film garnered nearly universal critical praise and eventually netted Davis her first Best Actress Oscar nomination. Yet Davis describes The Help as one of those movies she regrets being in.

For Davis, the problem wasn’t director Tate Taylor or even her co-stars. Instead, Davis felt that the movie didn’t properly capture the “voices of the maids” and focused too much on the film’s other characters. Some critics at the time echoed Davis’s concerns. Even Abilene Cooper—the real-life maid that Davis’s character was inspired by—sued the producers of the movie over what she felt was an “embarrassing” adaptation of the story. ^[2]

8 Zac Efron–High School Musical

For some, the Disney Channel’s High School Musical movies invoke powerful memories of a time and place in their lives. For others, they invoke somewhat more embarrassing memories of a time and place in their lives. It turns out that High School Musical star Zac Efron belongs to the latter camp.

Efron says that he looks back at himself in the High School Musical films and wants to “kick that guy’s a** sometimes.” Efron goes on to say that those movies may have made him famous but that the kind of fame he received is “not a real thing” and that you can’t “share that with your friends.” This seems to be another case of a breakout role rocketing a young actor to success faster than they anticipated or enjoyed.^[3]

7 Crispin Glover–Back to the Future

Back to the Future is one of those generational hits that helped change the lives of nearly everyone involved with it. While director Robert Zemeckis and stars Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox have embraced the movie’s success, actor Crispin Glover has long been open about his disdain for Back to the Future and its eventual legacy.

Glover always had an issue with the movie’s ending and the ways it suggests the story’s main characters need to be rich to be happy. Glover’s disagreements with Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale over the issue contributed to his decision to not appear in Back to the Future Part II. Glover even sued the producers of that sequel over their attempts to replicate his likeness in the film. Glover later made amends with Zemeckis, though he is one of the only major living cast members from Back to the Future who wants little to do with the movie to this day.^[4]

6 Brad Pitt–Interview with the Vampire

After stealing the show through smaller roles in Thelma and Louise and True Romance, actor Brad Pitt was cast as the co-lead in a major adaptation of author Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. That film went on to gross over $200 million and launch the career of child actress Kirsten Dunst. But if you’ve ever watched that movie and felt that Pitt seems strangely checked out of the whole thing…well, that’s probably because he was.

Pitt has described Interview with the Vampire as a “miserable” filming experience that required him to be abroad in the middle of winter in an old windowless studio for a prolonged period. At one point, he even asked one of the movie’s producers how much it would cost to just leave the production. When Pitt was informed that it would cost him around $40 million to get out of the movie, he decided to gut it out and finish the film.^[5]

5 Gene Hackman–Hoosiers

While Gene Hackman has starred in many memorable movies throughout his legendary career, few are as beloved as 1986’s Hoosiers. Considered to be one of the greatest sports movies ever made, Hoosiers is arguably best known for Hackman’s portrayal of a high school basketball coach named Norman Dale, who helps lead a ragtag group of students to unlikely success.

Interestingly, Hackman has always seen Hoosiers itself as an unlikely success. While filming, Hackman told co-star Dennis Hopper to save his money because “we’ll never work again after this film.” It’s not entirely clear why Hackman resents the movie so much, though those around him at the time recall that he was generally grumpy throughout the shoot and seemed to feel that the movie was a pandering mess that was destined to bomb.^[6]

4 George Clooney–Batman

Following the success of Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie, the role of Batman became one of the most coveted casting choices in Hollywood. Few were surprised when the producers of 1997’s Batman and Robin revealed that rising star George Clooney had agreed to play the caped crusader in the much-anticipated movie. Unfortunately for Clooney, that film ended up being a box-office disappointment and is widely regarded as one of the worst movies ever made. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Clooney doesn’t look back on the role as fondly as other Batman actors.

In fact, Clooney later apologized to Batman fans for his performance in the movie and said that he keeps a photo of himself as Batman around to remind himself to not choose roles solely for commercial reasons. Ouch.^[7]

3 Bill Murray–Groundhog Day

While a modest hit in its day, 1993’s Groundhog Day is now considered one of the best comedies ever made. There are times when it feels like the only person who doesn’t love Groundhog Day is the film’s famous leading man, Bill Murray.

While filming, Murray had a falling out with director—and longtime friend—Harold Ramis over disagreements regarding the film’s tone and messages. Things got so bad at one point that Murray reportedly only agreed to communicate with the movie’s producers via a sign language interpreter. Some theorize that Murray was simply in a bad place at that time and that this movie is a big painful reminder of those times. Regardless, it’s one of the few films in the actor’s legendary career that he never celebrates and rarely speaks about.^[8]

2 Christopher Plummer–The Sound of Music

1965’s The Sound of Music is one of the most successful and acclaimed movie musicals ever made. Yet star Christopher Plummer has rarely found a nice word to say about the picture during his long and illustrious acting career. In fact, in his autobiography, he referred to the movie as “The Sound of Mucus.”

Plummer’s resentment of the film seems to be based on his resentment for his character, Captain Georg von Trapp. Plummer says he quickly grew bored of playing the character and disagreed with some of the studio’s attempts to flesh out the role. Reportedly, Plummer’s boredom seemingly led to him showing up to the set drunk and otherwise enjoying his time away from the production of the movie a bit too much.^[9]

1 Alec Guinness–Star Wars

1977’s Star Wars may be one of the most successful pieces of entertainment ever made, but many people at the time of the movie’s release doubted its potential and saw it as another cheap sci-fi flick. Remarkably, Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Alec Guinness still looked at the film that way even after it became one of the biggest hits in movie history.

While Guinness was reportedly a professional while filming Star Wars, he wasn’t shy about letting everyone know that he thought the script was awful and that he only took the role for the money. According to a popular legend, a child once asked Guinness for his autograph and told the actor that he had already seen Star Wars 100 times. Guinness said he would only give the child an autograph if he agreed to never watch the movie again.^[10]

Teaching is a thankless job. After working years to earn your degree, you must then deal with rambunctious kids who couldn’t be less interested in learning. Worse, the pay rates for this hardship are mediocre at best. These hurdles are enough to drive anyone crazy. Writers sometimes take notice of that.

Fiction has given us numerous nutty teachers over the years. Their insanity usually lies in their behavior or curriculum. They might have some bizarre quirk to their deliveries, or they could impose tyrannical rules on pupils. Then again, they may just have some strange hobbies on the side. All of these traits affect their students, often injuring or traumatizing them beyond repair. These crimes would naturally lead to teachers losing their licenses in real life. In fiction, though, their loony lessons are just fun to watch.

Related: Top Ten TV Series Finales

10 Professor Trelawney

“Colorful” is the word for most teachers at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even by that standard, though, Professor Trelawney is a fruity figure. The Divination teacher specializes in predictions through tea leaves, palm reading, and star gazing. She’s basically a glorified fortuneteller. Suffice it to say, she probably sees stars on a daily basis.

Trelawney is the very image of a crazy cat lady. Her unkempt hair, thick glasses, and chaotic wardrobe are enough to drive most people off. The rest have to put up with her neurotic noises and random asides. She regularly predicts misfortune on her students, delivering her prophecies in the most ominous ways possible without a care for their feelings. This professor is truly in her own little world.^[1]

9 Mr. Crocker

In all fairness, Mr. Crocker’s craziness emerges outside the classroom in The Fairly OddParents. That’s not to say that he shirks his duties, though. He thoroughly enjoys handing out failing grades to his students, taking great pleasure in their misery. It doesn’t matter if they do well or not; he has a ready supply of “F” grades stashed in his desk. Of course, his true passion lies elsewhere.

More than anything, Crocker believes in fairy godparents. He’s so passionate in his belief that he manically shouts about their existence to anyone who’ll listen. More directly, he concocts countless evil schemes to track and capture the magical creatures. These plans get increasingly ridiculous with every failure. Granted, he’s right about fairies being real, but his deranged demeanor doesn’t convince anyone.^[2]

8 Ms. Frizzle

This teacher isn’t mean or oppressive, but she more than makes up for those traits through child endangerment. Ms. Frizzle is an energetic soul. She believes in a hands-on approach to education, rejecting the sterile dullness of the classroom in favor of daily field trips. That prospect sounds exciting, but these journeys aren’t just walks in the park.

Driving the eponymous Magic School Bus, this wild woman takes her students to fantastic locales they can only dream of. One day, they might dodge dinosaurs in prehistoric times. Another day, they could swim through a person’s bloodstream. These scenarios are obviously dangerous, but the impending death of her students doesn’t seem to bother Ms. Frizzle at all. She just laughs off every peril without a care in the world. That’s not the attitude you want for the person watching your kids.^[3]

7 Ms. Bitters

Invader Zim crafts a demented world to begin with, but arguably, the greatest terror lies in school. Ms. Bitters is a haunting presence. She appears and disappears from the shadows, and she looms over students like a lanky vulture. She seems more wraith than human, making it impossible to relax in the classroom. Believe it or not, she only gets more unsettling as you get to know her.

“Bitters” is as good a name as any. This teacher utterly despises children, and she has no qualms about saying so. Nothing would please her more than for them to die horrible deaths. The kids even theorize that she descends from a species of flesh-eating insects. That certainly tracks with the bugs crawling over her face, and it comes to a head in the characters’ nightmares, where she’s a shape-shifting bug queen who consumes kids. Whether the rumors are founded or not, Ms. Bitters is ominous enough to terrify the titular alien tyrant. That’s saying a lot.^[4]

6 Walter White

Hardship can warp the best men. Instructors are no exception to that rule, as Walter White learns in Breaking Bad. This chemistry aficionado teaches at J.P. Wynne High School, but it’s far from an ideal position. Disrespectful students and financial problems regularly demoralize him. The nail in the coffin comes from a terminal cancer diagnosis. These woes push White over the edge.

Upon discovering his former pupil’s drug business, Walt decides to get in on the action. His chemistry expertise lets him make the best crystal meth around. Unfortunately, the inherent danger means he must take increasingly drastic measures to survive. These events morph him into a ruthless killer. Soon, the humble teacher becomes the region’s leading drug lord. Talk about a career change.^[5]

5 Jin Kuwana

Bullying harms kids the world over, but it can also affect teachers. Such is the case with Yu Kitakata. In Lost Judgment, his classroom is the site of merciless mocking. The instructor brushes it off as normal, but the targeted boy eventually attempts suicide and winds up in a coma. The whole incident demonstrates inexcusable negligence on Kitakata’s part, resulting in a guilty conscience and his unceremonious firing. Sadly, he learns the wrong lesson from the ordeal.

Changing his name to “Jin Kuwana,” the former teacher goes on the warpath. He ruthlessly exacts vigilante justice against Japan’s bullies and anyone who sanctions it. He even helps disgruntled parents torture and kill the tormentors without batting an eye. As an added insult, he blackmails his comatose student’s bullies to aid in his crusade. The tale is a classic case of fighting fire with fire.^[6]

4 Ra’s al Ghul

This immortal warrior wants to make the world a better place. Ra’s al Ghul leads an elite group of fighters with the sole intention of achieving that goal. He teaches them the ways of hand-to-hand combat, ninjutsu, and deception. Certain continuities even position him as Batman’s master. His centuries of knowledge and experience are invaluable sources of learning. Unfortunately, what he uses these gifts for is less than ideal.

The villain’s method of saving the world often lies in genocide. He’s willing to purge large portions of humanity to restore the planet’s purity or restart a failing society. What’s worse is that he imbues this warped worldview into his pupils, creating a doomsday cult with unparalleled skills as killers. The cherry on top is the Lazarus Pit. Bathing in its mystical waters helps Ra’s maintain his youth, but it also robs him of what little reason he has. A megalomaniac is dangerous at the best of times, but an immortal one is a disaster waiting to happen.^[7]

3 Miss Trunchbull

Given that she stems from a Roald Dahl tale, Miss Trunchbull is naturally twisted. The headmistress of Crunchem Hall Elementary School hates kids with every fiber of her being. She despises them so much that she denies ever having a childhood. Even the most well-behaved individuals—the titular Matilda—are pure evil in her eyes. Don’t think she doesn’t act on those impulses.

Trunchbull abuses her students in the most ludicrous ways. One moment, she might force a heavyset boy to eat an entire chocolate cake. In another scene, she swings a girl around by her pigtails and tosses her like a hammer throw. These punishments are equal parts horrific and cartoonish. What’s worse is that they’re entirely unfounded. Trunchbull tortures these kids purely out of spite.^[8]

2 Darth Sidious

The Sith aren’t exactly the nicest guys. Even so, Darth Sidious is the pinnacle of evil. Throughout the Star Wars saga, he works to subjugate the galaxy under his own brand of order. It doesn’t matter how many people he has to kill. He gladly slaughters those who resist and enslaves those who don’t. What’s more is that he takes pleasure in his sadistic actions, laughing maniacally at his own misdeeds. Equally demented is how he treats his allies.

Sidious uses and loses people without remorse. He trains several Sith apprentices, imparting the secrets of the Dark Side and commanding them to carry out his Machiavellian schemes. Not only does he delicately play on their fears, but he sometimes indoctrinates them from a young age. Planting those seeds makes these students supremely loyal, but their master doesn’t hesitate to dispose of them once they outlive their usefulness. Keep in mind, it’s the Jedi who discourage attachment, yet this Sith Lord couldn’t be more selfish if he tried.^[9]

1 Everyone at James K. Polk Middle School

It pays to have a few pointers in your teenage years, especially in a school as unhinged as this. Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide is a chaotic show. That chaos comes down to cliques, bullies, assignments, and lunches. All these aspects are a cut above real life. Oddly enough, though, the greatest obstacle lies in the classroom.

James K. Polk Middle School has numerous nutcases on its staff. Examples include a woodshop teacher who cut off his own hand, a science teacher who performs explosive experiments, and a gym coach who loves seeing kids hurt each other. With these guys in charge, any moment can turn a routine class into a horror show. On the one hand, it ensures that kids pay attention. On the other, it risks scarring them for life. Then again, that’ll happen at some point anyway, so why not start early?^[10]

There are plenty of ways to get information, but the most unpleasant method is torture. As you inflict pain on your victims, you force them to confess their carefully guarded secrets. It’s not the most honorable tactic, hinging solely on human suffering. That’s why most storytellers reserve it for villains or unsympathetic figures.

Certain works buck that trend by letting heroes partake in the torture. Writers typically use this tactic to paint the person as a darker protagonist than audiences are accustomed to. Along the same lines, they might want to show their characters’ degrading morals; constant misfortune pushes them to increasingly desperate means to get what they want. Whatever the circumstances, it’s always shocking to see the hero—someone you’re meant to root for—resort to such reprehensible acts.

Related: 10 Movie Warning Signs of a Psychological Breakdown

10 Batman

Several superheroes use brutal methods against crooks, but the most notorious is Batman. The Dark Knight relies on fear. If he can instill that fear in criminals, then they’re ready and willing to give up their fellow ne’er-do-wells. His gothic image and effective reputation are usually enough to get the job done, but braver souls sometimes need a little push.

The Caped Crusader employs all sorts of torture methods. He could dangle victims off rooftops, break their bones, or back up the Batmobile on their heads. The irony is that he holds an ironclad code not to kill, but you’d be surprised what you can live through. Batman’s expert knowledge of human anatomy lets him push these guys just far enough to get what he wants without causing any fatal damage. Such precision is what makes him so frightening, especially to superstitious and cowardly dregs.^[1]

9 Bryan Mills

Taken is the ultimate nightmare for parents, so it calls for an equally nightmarish hero. Bryan Mills is a retired CIA agent who now wants to be there for his daughter. When she falls victim to sex traffickers, he cuts a bloody path across Paris to find her. His dogged detective skills and combat experience make him a one-man fighting force, and he only gets scarier as he approaches his quarry.

When time is of the essence, Bryan makes people pay for wasting his. He finally catches up to the people who took his daughter, but determining her buyer means keeping their leader alive. Stabbing him with spikes and attaching them to jumper cables, Mills fashions a makeshift electroshock treatment. This vengeance doesn’t stop at strangers, though. After discovering his friend’s corruption, he shoots the guy’s wife and threatens to execute her unless he gets some info. Bryan doesn’t distinguish between targets. Like any good parent, he does whatever it takes to save his kid.^[2]

8 Joel Miller

Everyone makes compromises in a zombie dystopia. Joel Miller knows that better than most. In The Last of Us, this blue-collar guy eeks out an existence through dirty deals. Hurting people is on the table most days, as the alternative means being trampled or killed by other desperate survivors. Even by that low standard, though, he reaches a new level of depravity.

After a cannibalistic clan takes his surrogate daughter, Joel captures two members to learn her location. He begins with a brutal beating before moving on to knives. Stabbing his victim in the leg, he threatens to pop out the kneecap. The guy then has to mark the location on a map with the bloody blade. It’s amazing how far Joel goes when he has something to lose.^[3]

7 Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher is an imposing individual on any day. His immense size comes second only to his prowess as a soldier. His militaristic upbringing grants him unparalleled efficacy in melee combat, firearms, and conspiracies. He’s more than a match for any thugs who come his way, making mincemeat of foes in a straight-up fight. However, he’s arguably more intimidating when his enemies can’t fight back.

Reacher is great at causing pain. His extensive expertise on the human body tells him exactly which buttons to push. This knowledge results in torture scenes involving the most unexpected instruments. A particularly twisted example emerges when he pumps air into a catheter, threatening to burst the bladder of a hospitalized villain. You don’t expect such an unorthodox strategy, but that’s what happens when mixing killer know-how with a lack of patience.^[4]

6 Harry Callahan

Police officers combat criminals, but they can only go so far. Inspector Harry Callahan, aka “Dirty Harry,” brazenly defies those limits with his own brand of justice. He regularly kills and brutalizes crooks with little regard for ethics or procedure. He does whatever he feels is necessary to get the job done.

Viewers learn the extent of those measures when a serial killer—nicknamed “Scorpio”—begins plaguing the city. Harry relentlessly pursues the psycho, but botched police procedures result in more bodies piling up. Upon finally catching up to Scorpio, the furious detective shoots him in the leg and steps on the wound. He does this to learn the location of the killer’s next victim. The cruel twist is that said victim is already dead. Worse, the torture means that the information isn’t admissible in court. Of course, that doesn’t stop Harry from doing it again in subsequent films.^[5]

5 Anakin Skywalker

Star Wars fans mainly know Anakin Skywalker for turning to the Dark Side and becoming Darth Vader. However, he displays dark tendencies even as a Jedi. While he distinguishes himself through his combat prowess and Force affinity, he doesn’t always have the control to use these gifts responsibly. He lacks the emotional detachment instilled in Jedi at a young age, so he goes the extra mile to save others. That drive normally makes him a hero, but not to those who get in his way.

Anakin doesn’t hesitate to inflict pain and terror on his enemies. If prisoners have a critical piece of information, then he uses the Force to choke them into giving it up. This approach obviously goes against the Jedi’s code, but it’s usually more effective than their traditional methods, especially in wartime. That mindset of the end justifying the means is what leads Skywalker down the path to evil.^[6]

4 Furiosa

The post-apocalyptic wasteland of Mad Max robs countless people of their humanity. Furiosa is one such soul. Although she’s originally from an oasis, a roving band of marauders takes her prisoner. The leader, Dementus, then kills her mother before bartering the child off. Over the next several years, Furiosa quietly matures into a deadly road warrior. When she clashes with Dementus again, he takes her man and her arm in horrific fashion. Luckily, her cunning finally defeats the wannabe overlord.

After using other wasteland factions to wipe out his gang, Furiosa pursues Dementus through the desert. At first, she sadistically toys with him by slicing his canteen and haunting him from a distance. Eventually, though, she reveals herself before chaining him up and beating him to within an inch of his life. For the final bit of cruel irony, she uses an acorn from her oasis to plant a tree with him at the center, essentially making him into an emaciated human fertilizer while he’s still alive. “Purposeful savagery,” indeed.^[7]

3 Ragnar Lothbrok

The Norsemen may have been settlers and explorers, but they never lost their roots as warriors. Even the sharp-minded Ragnar Lothbrok falls back on those old instincts. While he spends most of the Vikings series charting a path forward for his people, his violent side comes out when people threaten his family. Such is the case with Jarl Borg. Seeking revenge for a past insult, he seizes Ragnar’s village and tries to kill his wife, children, and brother. His reign doesn’t last long, though.

Ragnar quickly captures Borg and resolves to kill him. It’s not a simple beheading, however. Instead, he subjects his prisoner to the Blood Eagle. This torturous ritual involves cutting his back open, hacking his ribs apart, and pulling his lungs out. If he suffers without screaming, then he can enter the Norse afterlife of Valhalla. That prospect is easier said than done, as the Blood Eagle is among the most excruciating executions ever devised. Suffice it to say Ragnar gets his revenge and then some.^[8]

2 Lisbeth Salander

As the eponymous Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth Salander is already an intense individual. Her abusive upbringing makes her a cold and distant outcast. That misery comes to a head when her guardian sexually assaults her in a merciless manner. The scene is utterly traumatizing, but Lisbeth doesn’t stay down for long.

In her own way, the vengeful hacker makes the act more scarring for the perpetrator. Not only does Salander commit the same act on him with a metal instrument, but she also blackmails him with footage of the original encounter. She uses this leverage to secure her freedom and financial security. For the final insult, she tattoos a “Rapist Pig” label on his chest. Rather than simply kill her abuser, she squeezes him for all he’s worth. What an oddly pragmatic approach to torture.^[9]

1 Barbie

You’d never expect torture from a family franchise like Toy Story, least of all from a dainty toy like Barbie. That said, Toy Story 3 pushes her to desperate measures. She initially buys into the paradise of Sunnyside Day Care, thanks in part to the romantic salesmanship of one resident, Ken. Unfortunately, the place soon turns into a brutal prison, so the toys must work together in an elaborate escape.

Barbie’s role in this plan is to find out a key piece of info from Ken. After tricking him into modeling clothes for her, she ambushes him and ties him up with a paddleball. She then subjects him to the unspeakable torture…of watching her rip his vintage outfits. It may not harm him physically, but the mere sight is enough to hurt his soul. Maybe that’s the most brutal torture of all.^[10]

Part 1 of Wicked has finally been released, and the public is loving it. From going viral on TikTok to being featured on every late-night talk show, this is truly the era of Wicked.

Jon M. Chu did what was considered impossible: He created a movie musical that was both a faithful adaption of the original source material AND a box office hit!

However, not all directors have been as lucky as Chu in trying to bring the stage to the screen. Here are 10 musicals that have terrible movie adaptions.

Related: Top 10 Historical Musicals That Aren’t “Hamilton”

10 Rock of Ages

It’s never good when a newspaper’s review of your movie starts with, “I just lost two hours of my life, and I want them back.” Unfortunately, that was the general consensus with 2012’s Rock of Ages.

Though much of the original plot and songs were kept in, the campiness and silliness of the show simply didn’t translate to the big screen. Even a truly stacked cast, including Tom Cruise, Bryan Cranston, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Alec Baldwin, couldn’t save this jukebox musical from being ripped apart by critics. The movie lacks lust, juice, heat, bad behavior, and other things we’ve come to associate with rock bands like the ones featured in the show.

As the New York Times put it, “There isn’t any grit to these people or their art, not a speck of dirt anywhere. It looks like Disneyland and sounds, well, like a bad Broadway musical.”^[1]

9 The King and I

Not to be confused with the beloved 1956 movie The King and I, this 1999 cartoon aimed to be a more kid-friendly version of the story of a British teacher and her romance with the King of Siam.

Unlike many movies aimed at children, this one was not enjoyable for adults as well. Critics panned the way the film simplified the plot, cut Rogers and Hammersteins’ songs, and essentially created a water-down version of the (already pretty family-friendly) story.

Upon its release, the Washington Post wrote that it was a “wretched, lurid, absurd concoction which seems to have been conceived to annoy adults and bore children.”^[2]

8 Nine

Based on the Italian movie 8 ½, Nine the musical follows a womanizing Italian film director (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) as he goes through a midlife crisis. Nine important women in his life seem to speak to him as voices in his head. From his mother to his mistress to the prostitute he slept with as a child, Day-Lewis has conversations with each one that lead him to realize that he should have appreciated and acknowledged the women in his life before it was too late.

At its core, the show is about the importance of seeing women as more than just sex objects or people to be conquered, as their perspectives and realities can lead to new outlooks on life. While the performances in the 2009 film adaptation were generally praised, director Rob Marshall was criticized for his tendency to cast the female characters in scantily clad outfits and catering to the male gaze rather than taking the moral of the show to heart.^[3]

7 Les Miserables

To be fair, it’s difficult to adapt a 1,400-page book into a three-hour musical. And it’s even more difficult to take a three-hour musical about French history and actually have it be interesting.

But Les Miserables was a hit when it opened on the West End in 1980, despite the myriad of plots and characters. The mix of romance and hatred, grief and love, made the musical beloved by millions.

Surprisingly, not much was changed for the 2012 movie, which starred Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman. So why is it seen as an example of what not to do when making a movie musical? Director Tom Hooper made a bold choice to cast Russell Crowe opposite a slew of seasoned Broadway and West End singers, and unfortunately, the movie star couldn’t live up to them. His vocals were described as grating, and his mediocre singing voice took away from the melodrama and fear his role required. When asked about this decision, Hooper frankly claimed, “To find brilliant film actors who are brilliant singers… there are so few choices.”^[4]

6 Phantom of the Opera

Even ignoring the fact that romantic lead Emmy Rossum was only 17 years old, playing opposite a 33-year-old Gerard Butler, the Phantom of the Opera movie was a flop.

Watching the chandelier fall from the ceiling and the phantom’s gondola glide through the fog of a stage doesn’t quite hit the same when it’s on a screen. The inherent theatricality of the musical did not lend itself to the 2004 movie, and the more problematic plot points of the original were only highlighted by the young age of its lead. Not to mention, poor Gerard Butler certainly looked the part of the mysterious phantom but couldn’t quite hit the right notes.

Ultimately, the spectacle and music saved this from being a complete failure, but most reviewers agreed that the movie was “histrionic, boring, and lacking in romance and danger.”^[5]

5 Dear Evan Hansen

Even before the 2021 movie version of Dear Evan Hansen was released, there was controversy regarding the plot of the original Broadway show.

Teenager Evan Hansen is lying about being friends with a classmate who committed suicide in order to make friends and become closer with the classmate’s sister, who he has a crush on. If this makes you kind of hate Evan, you’re not alone. The show tries to paint Evan in a sympathetic light, highlighting his intense self-hatred and mental illness, but many still find the show to be letting him off the hook too easily.

To remedy this, the movie tried to make it clear that Evan didn’t want to keep lying but felt he had to continue due to outside pressures. Rather than making Evan more easy to pity, though, it made him seem weak and uninteresting. He continues the lie for no discernable reason, and all is forgiven in the end.

Ben Platt originated the role of Evan Hansen on Broadway at the age of 22. By the time the movie was being made in 2021, Platt was 27 and could no longer pass for a high school junior. Because the film was produced by Platt’s father, he, of course, landed the role. No amount of makeup or “youthful” haircuts could make this man seem younger, leading to an uncanny valley leading man and less than stellar reviews.^[6]

4 Hair

Hair took the world by storm when it debuted Off-Broadway in 1967. The same cannot be said for the movie adaptation. Though it didn’t exactly flop, even going on to be nominated for a Golden Globe, it doesn’t quite live up to the musical version: At least, not according to its fans.

The musical was written during the hippie movement, while the film was made in 1979 after it had ended. It makes sense that these two different pieces of media have different outlooks on the hippie tribe, which is the central focus of the story. The musical explores racism, pacifism, war, sex, drugs, and religion. The movie is more focused on the hippies as people, not so much on their beliefs and morals.

The biggest diversion from the original plot comes at the end. In the stage version, the main character, Claude, a member of the hippie tribe, receives his draft card and is killed in Vietnam. In the movie, Claude’s friend Berger switches places with Claude to give his friend one last night of freedom. The soldiers are deployed that night, and Berger is killed in Vietnam while posing as Claude. Both endings are sad, but the original captures the simple hopelessness of the Vietnam Era and the simple sacrifices people made during it.^[7]

3 A Chorus Line

As the seventh-longest-running musical in Broadway history, A Chorus Line holds a special place in the hearts of many theater fans. When it debuted in 1975, audiences were taken with each of the seventeen characters, all actors auditioning for spots on, you guessed it, a chorus line.

Rather than focus on plot or development, each character gets a few moments to explain who they are, why they’re there, and why they love to dance. The experimental nature of the show was revolutionary for the time and led to numerous accolades.

After having difficulty getting off the ground due to hesitancy from directors, in 1985, a movie adaption of A Chorus Line was released and met with universally terrible reviews. Many felt that the focus on a romance between one of the chorus line girls and the director, which is included in the original show but made the main plot in the adaption, completely went against the moral of the story.

In a show that’s meant to be about everyone, Hollywood tried to make it about romance, and this fundamental misunderstanding of the source material unfortunately meant the magic of the show could not be replicated.^[8]

2 Into the Woods

Into the woods and out of the movie theater.

In 2014, Disney released a movie adaption of Stephen Sondheim’s 1985 musical Into the Woods starring Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, Chris Pine, and more A-list celebs. With a cast like that, it seemed like a surefire hit. And while it did end up doing well at the box office, Broadway fans were not impressed.

In the stage version of the show, the interwoven stories seamlessly flow in and out of each other as characters make their way deeper into the woods. The movie was unable to replicate this, leaving the plot muddled and beloved songs such as “Ever After” and “No More” on the cutting room floor.

Though the cut songs and slowed tempos were annoying, what truly diverted the film was the absence of the narrator. The show starts with him telling the audience “Once upon a time” and guiding us through the stories, which helped keep the plots separate and added an extra storybook-like quality.

One of the most pivotal moments of the show is when the characters suddenly break the fourth wall and decide to sacrifice the narrator despite his protests. This marks the point when the show begins to get darker, as Prince Charming cheats on Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother is brutally killed. Without the narrator, there’s no clear reason for things to go downhill so quickly, leading to a more ambiguous and less impactful moral.^[9]

1 Cats

Ask anyone who’s seen Cats (either the musical or the movie) about what the show’s plot is, and there’s a good chance they won’t be able to tell you anything. Except, of course, that there are cats in it.

The Broadway show was a smash hit in the ’80s and is still the fifth longest-running show in Broadway history. It’s mostly a story of individual cats explaining to the audience who they are and how their world works, with a second plot revolving around which cat deserves to be reborn in their version of the afterlife.

Part of the reason the stage show was so successful despite its oddities was the immersive experience and impressive dancing, both of which did not translate to the screen. Instead of wild makeup and ’80 bodysuits, audiences watched CGI James Corden and Taylor Swift roll around a set for two and a half hours.

Five years after its release, it is widely hailed as being one of the worst movies of all time. As Rotten Tomatoes so eloquently put it, “Despite its fur-midable cast, this Cats adaptation is a clawful mistake that will leave most viewers begging to be put out of their mew-sery.”^[10]

Video games have consistently gained popularity around the world. Some of the most popular video games are filled with violence, sexual scenes, drug use, and other mature situations, earning the game a ban or censoring in several nations. However, some games have received a country-wide ban for shocking reasons. Here are ten video games that are surprisingly banned around the world.

Related: 10 Video Game Secrets We Wish We Never Found

10 Crash Bandicoot 2 (Japan)

It’s hard to believe that Crash Bandicoot would have content that was so unsuitable that it would be banned, but it was in one country. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back was banned in Japan for a death animation. In the game, Crash is squashed into a stunned, floating head with feet. Seems harmless, but Japan stated that it resembled the Kobe child murders, which was a series of child killings that occurred in Kobe, Japan.

The game was initially banned by Japan, but the developers didn’t want to cause any controversy and decided to alter the animation for the Japanese version of the game. The Japanese version of the game shows Crash redesigned to appear less aggressive and cuter. There were also other small changes to make the game more lighthearted for Japanese gamers.^[1]

9 The Guy Game (United States)

The Guy Game, released in 2004 by TopHeavy Studios, was a trivia game that allowed up to four players to complete multiple-choice questions and mini-games. While all of this is going on, there is filmed live-action footage of bikini-clad women on spring break. Players are trying to accumulate points that go toward the Flash-O-Meter, which progressively removes censorship of women exposing their breasts. Sure, it’s not a game you wanted your mom to know about, but the gameplay is warranted for a ban, right?

Footage for the game was filmed on South Padre Island during spring break in 2003. They went around trying to pay women to expose their breasts for the camera, and the footage was used for the video game. A guy playing the video game discovered his underage sister topless during gameplay, and the discovery led to a lawsuit against the game.

The unidentified woman gave producers a fake identification card and inconsistent information for media release. She sued the developers and publishers for breach of privacy and emotional distress. The lawsuit led to a temporary injunction against any further distribution, which led to TopHeavy Studios ceasing further sales of the video game.^[2]

8 Mass Effect (Singapore)

Mass Effect is a video game about a civilization that is threatened by an advanced machine race better known as the Reapers. The action role-playing game was originally released in 2007 for the Xbox 360. It debuted at #6 on the video games sales chart in the United States, and it also won several awards, including Best RPG at the IGN Best of 2007 Awards and Game of The Year by the New York Times. Even though the game was a huge hit, censorship kept it off the shelves in Singapore.

The video game had an optional subplot that allowed the player to develop a relationship with a non-player character. If the relationship grew stronger, scenes would show sexual activity with partial nudity. Singapore was the only nation that had a problem with the game and banned the game for same-sex love scenes between a human woman and an alien female. The Singapore Media Development Authority later reversed its decision and allowed the game to be released with an M18 rating.^[3]

7 Pokémon Go (Iran)

Pokémon Go introduced a new generation to the popular franchise while bringing nostalgia to old fans. The game makes you a trainer, and you must get out and be active to try to “catch ’em all.” The game was new and exciting in so many ways, but one country had one major issue with the mobile video game.

Iran made the decision to ban Pokémon Go due to unspecified security concerns. Iran’s High Council of Virtual Spaces believed the game’s usage of maps and geolocation data presented a security issue for the people of the country. Other countries and cities around the world have expressed their concerns with the game, but Iran was the first country to place a ban on the game.^[4]

6 Football Manager 2005 (China)

Football Manager 2005 was released in 2004 as a football (or soccer for Americans) management simulation video game. Players take the reign of a professional football team and try to coach them to a championship by managing team finances, signing new players, and giving the team pep talks. The game is supposed to simulate the real-world management of a team. What could be so controversial about a sports management game?

China found out that Taiwan and Tibet were listed as separate countries in the game, which led to a country-wide ban. They believed the game’s content was harmful to the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. SEGA announced that a Chinese version would be released with Taiwan included as part of China. The game went on to earn excellent reviews from most critics and gaming sites, including an 89 out of 100 by both GameRankings and Metacritic.^[5]

5 Animal Crossings: New Horizons (China)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a social simulation game for the Nintendo Switch and is the fifth game in the Animal Crossing series. Players live on a deserted island and work to develop a town as they progress. The game is pretty chill as players walk around and catch bugs, water plants, and try to build a peaceful town, but China somehow found a reason to ban the game.

Players in the game have the ability to create custom graphics and meet up with other players virtually. Some banners created by users included images of the Chinese President and phrases such as “Free Hong Kong.” Images such as these are considered offensive and led to the country-wide ban.^[6]

4 Pokémon (Saudi Arabia)

Pokémon took over the world in the ’90s with the hit TV show, trading cards, and Game Boy video games. Their products made their way to store shelves all around the world… except in Saudi Arabia. The country stated that the games promote Zionism and involve gambling. The religious authority claimed that the video game and trading cards contain un-Islamic symbols, including the star of David.

It was compared to gambling due to the competition that involves money being exchanged between card collectors. The franchise has been critiqued by several other countries with partial bans and censoring. Nintendo released a statement saying that they didn’t create any symbols with religion in mind, and they promised to investigate all claims.^[7]

3 EA Sports MMA (Denmark)

MMA can be a brutal sport as two fighters rip into each other, leaving blood pouring into the ring. When EA Sports MMA was released in 2010, Denmark decided to place a ban on the game, but not for the bloody violence.

Denmark decided to not allow the release of the video game due to the marketing of energy drinks. Their law prohibits the marketing of energy drinks. EA decided not to change the product placement of energy drinks on fighters’ shorts and in the ring, but instead, they decided not to release the game at all in Denmark.^[8]

2 The Sims 4 (Uzbekistan)

The Sims 4 is a life simulation game that allows users to create characters, build homes, and live in a world full of imagination. The game features mild violence and gore, mild drug use, mild sexual situations, and some intense scenes, earning it a T for Teen rating in the United States. These features were more than enough to earn a ban from Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan banned The Sims 4, along with 33 other video games, for distorting values and threatening stability. The games are believed to be used to propagate violence and threaten security. Their government also didn’t want these games to distribute false information about the country’s history and culture. The ban is also a result of their government trying to keep young people away from “destructive” influences.^[9]

1 Mario Kart Tour (Belgium)

The last game you would think to find on this list is a first-party Nintendo game, but somehow Mario Kart Tour found a way to earn a ban. Belgium made the decision to ban the video game due to loot boxes that did not comply with local gambling regulations. Players could spend real money on loot boxes without knowing the contents of the loot boxes, which is associated with gambling in Belgium.

The Netherlands joined Belgium in banning the game unless the company selling them has a gambling license. The Norwegian Consumer Council also called the loot boxes manipulative and exploitative. Nintendo even faced a lawsuit in the United States after a young gamer claimed the loot boxes encouraged addictive behavior just as gambling. Nintendo made the decision to remove loot boxes from Mario Kart Tour in 2022. Who knew that Mario Kart could rev up so much controversy.^[10]

Sometimes, it seems like rock stars live the most glorious life imaginable. Well, that’s true most of the time, if we’re being honest. They get to party for a living, are loved and adored by all the fans they come across, and make a ton of money doing it. Oh, and the groupies don’t hurt, either. Nor does the travel schedule—grueling though it may be at times, these rockers get to see the whole world. (And on the record company’s dime, no less!)

But behind the scenes, a great many rock stars struggle with their interpersonal relationships. And no, we don’t mean connections with loved ones or romantic partners, although there are plenty of those issues. We’re talking about seeing eye-to-eye with other members of their bands! Going on tour for months on end and/or being cooped up in a recording studio trying to perfect a much-anticipated album both create major stressors for musicians and their teams.

Inevitably, disagreements occur. And when they bubble up, they tend to fester. Over months (or years), those disagreements can get really, really vicious. So that’s what we’re here to take a look at today! In this list, we’ll take you through the stories of ten high-profile bands that suffered through absolutely brutal internal feuds. From the outside looking in, it might just seem to you like a few aging (and very rich) rockers getting into a catfight. But from the inside, these feuds represent years of pent-up rage, frustration, and anger. Yikes!

Related: Ten (Sometimes Tragic) Stories of Underappreciated Women of Rock

10 Metallica

The members of Metallica have fought with each other quite a bit throughout the years. In the group’s earliest days, they booted guitarist Dave Mustaine out of the band after they failed to get on the same page. He went on to found and front Megadeth—so maybe that was a bit of a miss on Metallica’s part. But their contention at the time was that he had major substance abuse problems, so they simply had to fire him. They had no other choice! That doesn’t mean Mustaine still isn’t pissed about it years later, though.

Even after more than two decades apart, Mustaine has still gone on the record at times to reveal how bitter he is that he was fired by Metallica. Take the 2004 music documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster as the perfect example of this. In it, Mustaine complained to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich about how the band canned him. And not only that, but how Dave isn’t credited with any of his musical contributions. In turn, Lars publicly slammed Dave for whining. Ulrich noted that Mustaine “never played on a Metallica record” and needed to get over a fractured band relationship that had come to an end more than 25 years prior. Not bad advice…

Mustaine isn’t the only one who’s gotten mad at Metallica, though. The group’s former bassist, Jason Newsted, has also feuded with the group in the past. Back in 2000, Jason asked the band for a hiatus so that he could work on a solo project. But Metallica chief James Hetfield denied the request, noting that he wanted Newsted in the group. Hetfield didn’t care to have the talented bassist focus all his creative energies on something that wouldn’t help the band. So, in turn, Newsted decided to quit the group. And he never forgave Hetfield for not allowing him the free reign to strike out on his own!^[1]

9 Hall & Oates

For years, musicians Daryl Hall and John Oates seemed to be good friends. After all, they got rich and famous together as the legendary duo Hall & Oates. But in 2023, Daryl amazingly filed a temporary restraining order against John—and then all hell broke loose! As it turned out, despite outward appearances, the two men hadn’t been on good terms for years. Things then came to a head when John attempted to sell his half of the duo’s joint music partnership. Angry that John had tried to sell out from under him without his consent, Daryl popped off with the TRO. He basically wanted the courts to prevent the sale of music rights.

“John and I did not have a creative relationship for decades; the last song I wrote with John was in 2000, and that was with somebody else,” Daryl explained to Billboard Magazine after the restraining order request blew up in the public eye. “We toured, and we toured and toured, and it was very restrictive to me and to John. The real truth of it all is John just said one day, he didn’t want to do it anymore. I said, ‘OK,’ but the problem is [John] didn’t make the parting and breakup easy, and that’s where the difficulties lay and still lay, and that’s all it is.”

On the flip side, Oates told news outlets that he didn’t think that his decision to sell his portion of the music rights was that big of a deal. And in fact, he was shocked by Hall’s reaction—and the legal maneuver with the restraining order. Regardless, Oates admits that the pair haven’t been friends for years. It would seem that the legal battle over the duo’s music rights was simply the thing that catapulted their feud into the spotlight. A tough end for a formerly close pair of musicians!^[2]

8 Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath was just about to reunite after temporarily breaking up when drummer Bill Ward erupted into a feud with the other band members. At the time, Ward claimed he’d been offered an “unreasonable contract” to once again participate in the band that he said wasn’t “signable.” So he opted out of the reunion album. Then, he got into a massive public feud with Ozzy Osbourne. Fast forward a couple years after that, and Ward was still seething and angry when the group got ready to head out on their final tour!

“With a sad heart, I have to say I will not participate in any musical undertakings until a righting of the wrongs spoken against me has been achieved,” Ward said in a statement he released to the media about feuding with Osbourne and having no further part in Black Sabbath. “I have little to no expectations of this happening, but in the order of first things first, I’m looking for an honest accountability of all of Ozzy’s statements that I felt were untrue. I would want Ozzy to amend his opinions and exaggerations. I would want him to be forthcoming about his unrealistic viewpoints. And because I was chastised publicly, I would want him to amend publicly in his words, and not through an Ozzy representative, the nature of the wrongs.”

For what it’s worth, Ozzy never did “amend publicly his words” or decided to be “forthcoming about his unrealistic viewpoints,” as Ward had hoped for. Instead, the band played their final shows in 2017 in their long-ago hometown of Birmingham, England, without Ward in attendance. At those shows, Ozzy did acknowledge that it was “bittersweet” for Bill not to be there. But that’s as far as the Black Sabbath frontman would go. So the band rode off into the sunset with the feud still simmering and no end in sight.^[3]

7 Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd may be seen as one of the greatest bands of all time, but they’re also one of the most estranged. Very early in their musical run, the band butted heads with leader Roger Waters. He may have served as the group’s main lyricist and lead vocalist, but after a relatively short time, his creative views differed greatly from the rest of them. They butted heads regularly through the early 1980s. Finally, things came to a head in 1985 when he decided to leave the band. Then, he followed that up with a lawsuit seeking to legally dissolve Pink Floyd and stop the rest of the remaining band members from using that name and the musical ideas Waters had come up with before.

“I would be distressed if Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr made records and went on the road calling themselves The Beatles,” Waters argued years later about why he wanted Pink Floyd to dissolve after his departure. “If John Lennon’s not in it, it’s sacrilegious … To continue with [other band members] Gilmour and Mason, getting in a whole bunch of other people to write the material, seems to me an insult to the work that came before.”

After a prolonged and extremely bitter legal battle, Waters and the rest of the band eventually came to an agreement. Decades later, Roger even admitted to the BBC that he regretted taking things all the way to court. So, cooler heads prevailed—years later. But in the moment, rage consumed Waters, and the whole thing blew up in one of the most vicious rock band feuds of all time.^[4]

6 Guns N’ Roses

Axl Rose and Slash were two of the original members of the iconic ’80s rock band Guns N’ Roses. But almost right from the start, tensions rose between the pair over the creative direction of the band. For years, they feuded on and off about what kind of music the group should record. Then, in the early 1990s, things really came to a head when Slash agreed to hold a concert with Michael Jackson. This was just after Jackson had first been accused of pedophilia. Axl Rose hated the King of Pop for that—and, by extension, Slash for deciding to do the performance.

“Axl was molested by his father when he was two, and he believed the charges against Michael Jackson,” the band’s former manager Doug Goldstein later explained as to what started the feud. “When Axl found out Slash was going to play with Michael Jackson and that the payment was a big screen TV, he was devastated. He thought Slash would support him and be against all abuse. From Axl’s point of view, that was the only problem. He could ignore the drugs and the alcohol, but never the child abuse.”

Then, by 1996, things had gotten even worse. That year, the group was in the middle of contract renegotiations with each other and their recording company. Slash didn’t like the direction the group was taking, so he told Axl that he was quitting—and he walked away. Just like that. The two men then didn’t speak to each other for nearly two full decades. Finally, in 2015, they began to work on patching up their relationship. They even went on a limited run of concerts together, coming full circle again. But it was only after more than twenty years of vicious feuding in public and private.

“A lot of the tension has dissipated,” Slash told CBS after finally reconciling with Axl in recent years. “Over time, we all just got sick and tired of the black cloud. The biggest thing that happens when you have a breakup that is less than harmonious is you build up a bad energy because of the distance.”^[5]

5 Blink-182

Blink-182 has had multiple notable lows during their time in the spotlight. The first of those came in 2005 when differences and personal issues among the group’s members forced the rock band to break up. For a while, they had no hopes of reuniting. Then, three years later, in 2008, Travis Barker nearly died in a plane crash. After that, the trio had a massive change of heart and got back together to record music again.

“Up until that point, I had zero hope for Blink,” Barker explained to the Daily Beast years later about his plane crash. “It was something that I had really put behind me. My accident definitely made everyone think about things a little more clearly, especially me. It’s horrible that it took something like that for everyone to wake up, but we realized, ‘Man, life’s short!’ We were fighting about some bull s**t and not talking, and it wasn’t anything to be fighting over.”

For the next seven years, the group worked together. But in 2015, they once again parted ways. This time, it was Tom DeLong who left the band—well, maybe. After the second breakup, Barker and Mark Hoppus shared a statement with their fans that Tom wanted to “work on his other non-music endeavors.” Meanwhile, DeLonge denied that he quit but instead intimated that he was forced out of the band while Barker and Hoppus focused on recording yet another new album.

Regardless, Tom really did spend the next few years building a non-band-related company. And in his absence, Blink-182 kept on touring—with Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba in the place of DeLonge. Once again, though, a tragedy brought them back together. This time around, the scary moment was when Mark was diagnosed with cancer near the end of 2021. The group reunited once again in 2022, began touring as a threesome once more, and even started recording more new music. What a long, strange trip it’s been!^[6]

4 Van Halen

The guys who brought together Van Halen promptly began feuding nearly as soon as the band took off. That would be founder and lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth, of course. The pair butted heads on photo shoots, music videos, and side projects alike. Things came to a head in 1984 when David decided to launch a solo career. Right from when he broke away from the band, he started talking smack about Eddie and his way of managing the group—which immediately kicked off a massive, decades-long feud between them.

“Since my very first days with the band 11 years ago, I have always had the feeling that one day I would wake up in a cold hotel, all the rooms would be empty, and I would be stuck by a phone with a busy signal,” Roth complained to Billboard Magazine about feeling abandoned by Eddie Van Halen after splitting from the band. “From the first day. Nothing has changed.” And just like that, David was gone!

In response, Eddie made his case: that he wanted to cut back on touring and focus more on recording and releasing new music. David, he claimed, had instead wanted to focus on solo projects and even dip his toes into the world of acting in a Hollywood movie. Then, to tip the scales, Eddie confirmed that David had quit the group by explaining that he was “tired of putting up with [Roth’s] bull s**t.”

That didn’t sit well with David, and for the next couple of decades, the duo feuded publicly. Eddie quickly went out and got Sammy Hagar to replace David Lee Roth in the band and enjoyed some smashing success with the new lineup. To their credit, though, cooler heads eventually prevailed. In 2007, Roth and Van Halen finally reunited and even went back to being bandmates for a while until Eddie died years after that due to complications from throat cancer.^[7]

3 Oasis

We bet you’re surprised that you had to read this far down into the list to see Oasis’ name listed, aren’t you? We couldn’t very well write a list about bands feuding without including the brainchild of the Gallagher brothers. The first time Noel and Liam officially feuded on the record was way back in 1994 when the pair said they hated each other during an on-the-record interview with NME.

Sadly, things only got worse from there. Over the years, the brothers routinely fought with each other in public. They would hurl insults at each other during media interviews and shows. They would randomly skip out on concerts without any notice, leaving the other brother in the lurch. And in 2009, it came to a head when Liam destroyed a dressing room and Noel’s guitar for good measure. At that point, Noel had enough—and he quit the group.

“It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight,” Noel wrote on the band’s website. “I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.” And with that, the two were done with each other forever… Well, OK, not really.

Since then, the pair have only ever continued to take shots at each other in public. The brothers are fond of insulting each other in interviews and on social media alike. Things got so intense at one point that Liam even filed a libel lawsuit against Noel. He eventually dropped it without further pursuit after Noel apologized for his prior statements. But still, really?! A libel lawsuit against your own brother? You know the rift is deep, and the emotions are very significantly at odds when two brothers start filing lawsuits against each other!^[8]

2 Journey

The guys in Journey have been fighting with each other since pretty much the inception of the band. Take lead singer and frontman Steve Perry as the best example of this. Perry joined the group in 1977, but things were bad from nearly the start. Perry said years later that upon joining Journey, he nearly immediately lost his passion for music. Things got so bad with the other band members that he eventually walked away from the group ten years later. He was unable to take it any longer—and he hated how much he’d come to hate music while performing with Journey.

But that wasn’t the end of the story for Perry by a long shot. He eventually rejoined Journey in 1996, eager to give it a second try. But right from the start of his second tour of duty, things were once again messed up. This time around, Perry was suffering from a hip injury and needed to undergo significant hip surgery. He tried to postpone the procedure to help the band, but he was unable to tour because he could barely move. So the other band members kicked him out of the group—for good this time.

After Perry departed for the second time, Journey carried on with a new lead singer. But it wouldn’t be long before the other members started feuding with each other, too. In 2022, guitarist Neal Schon delivered a cease-and-desist letter to keyboardist Jonathan Cain a few months after Cain decided to perform “Don’t Stop Believin’” for Donald Trump down at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Then, two years later, during Journey’s fiftieth-anniversary tour, Cain and Schon started fighting over how their touring company was managing concert finances.

In the end, the pair released a public statement indicating that they “fundamentally disagree” about the strategy of their anniversary tour and the operation of its management company. That has resulted in a few canceled tour dates here and there, much to the chagrin of fans who are hoping to see Journey for possibly the last time. But as far as the band members are concerned, they just can’t seem to stop fighting and leave it all behind them. Not a great look!^[9]

1 Jane’s Addiction

Everything seemed as good as could be for Jane’s Addiction right up until September 2024. That month, singer Perry Farrell was performing in the middle of a show when he suddenly tried to attack guitarist Dave Navarro on stage. Farrell had to be restrained and pulled off the stage—right in the middle of the concert! In time, Perry’s wife revealed that the band had been playing their instruments too loud, which was leaving Perry with frazzled ears and a sore throat while he tried to sing loud enough to hear himself. That, apparently, was what nearly led to an on-stage brawl. Yikes!

In turn, Farrell later released a statement of apology for going after Dave in such a public way on stage. “This weekend has been incredibly difficult, and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family, and friends for my actions during Friday’s show,” Farrell’s statement read. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”

The issue was a longstanding one, as Perry has dealt for years with tinnitus. And since he couldn’t even hear his own voice in his earpiece, he was apparently straining his voice to the point of near breakdown at each and every concert. But still, trying to punch Dave Navarro isn’t the way to handle that situation! Things were made even worse when bassist Eric Avery got involved and delivered his own punch to Farrell’s stomach. Ouch! In the end, less than 24 hours after the on-stage fight, the band announced that they would be “taking some time away as a group” and promptly canceled all of their remaining 2024 tour dates. Honestly, that’s probably for the best.^[10]

Art conservation is meant to preserve the masterpieces of history for future generations, but sometimes, these well-intentioned efforts go horribly wrong. Whether due to a lack of expertise, rushed decisions, or sheer carelessness, some restoration attempts have left artworks unrecognizable or damaged beyond repair. These failures remind us that art conservation is as much an art as it is a science, requiring skill, patience, and respect for the original work.

This list counts down ten infamous art conservation disasters, highlighting the mistakes that turned cultural treasures into cautionary tales.

Related: Top 10 Weird Images in Renaissance Paintings

10 The Melting Murillo: The Immaculate Conception (Spain, 2020)

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables is a celebrated 17th-century masterpiece depicting the Virgin Mary. In 2020, a Spanish furniture restorer—who had no formal training in art conservation—was hired to clean the painting. The results were disastrous. After two failed attempts at “restoring” the Virgin Mary’s face, the work was left unrecognizable, resembling a blurry cartoonish figure rather than Murillo’s delicate artistry.

The incident sparked outrage and ridicule, with comparisons drawn to the infamous Ecce Homo restoration (which appears later on this list). Experts condemned the lack of oversight in Spain’s art restoration practices, where unregulated amateurs are often entrusted with valuable cultural artifacts. Murillo’s painting eventually required extensive professional restoration, but the event highlighted the ongoing risks of entrusting masterpieces to the wrong hands.^[1]

9 The Overwashed Sistine Chapel Ceiling (Italy, 1980s)

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo in the early 16th century, is one of the most iconic works of Western art. Between 1980 and 1994, a massive restoration project aimed to clean centuries of grime and soot from the frescoes. While the results brought vibrant colors back to life, critics argue that the restoration stripped away some of Michelangelo’s original details, particularly his subtle shadowing techniques, known as chiaroscuro.

Some art historians claim that overzealous cleaning altered the masterpiece’s intended depth and texture. They also allege that the restoration team relied too heavily on chemical solvents, permanently damaging parts of the fresco. While the Vatican defends the project as a necessary effort to preserve Michelangelo’s work, the controversy remains a heated topic among art experts, demonstrating the thin line between preservation and destruction.^[2]

8 The Repainting of The Last Supper (Italy, 18th Century)

Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper is a Renaissance masterpiece, but it has suffered centuries of damage due to environmental factors and previous restoration attempts. The worst offender was an 18th-century effort by painter Giuseppe Mazza, who attempted to “fix” the fresco by painting over Leonardo’s original work.

Mazza used oil paints rather than tempera, which not only obscured Leonardo’s delicate brushwork but also caused further degradation of the fresco. The repainting was widely criticized and ultimately removed in subsequent restoration efforts, but the damage was irreversible. Modern techniques have since stabilized the painting, but much of Leonardo’s original genius is lost, leaving The Last Supper as a cautionary example of restoration gone wrong.^[3]

7 The Waxing of the Parthenon Sculptures (England, 1937)

In 1937, British Museum staff undertook a controversial cleaning project on the Parthenon Marbles (also known as the Elgin Marbles). Workers used wire brushes, abrasive tools, and even acid to strip away centuries of grime, believing they were restoring the sculptures to their original state. Instead, they removed valuable patina, leaving the surfaces irreparably damaged.

The cleaning was later described as a “calamity” by art historians, who argued that the Marbles’ historical integrity was compromised. The incident remains a sore point in debates over the Marbles’ ownership, with Greece citing the botched restoration as evidence of Britain’s inability to properly care for these ancient treasures.^[4]

6 The Darkened Rembrandt: The Night Watch (Netherlands, 1940s)

Rembrandt’s The Night Watch is a Dutch masterpiece, but a 1940s restoration attempt resulted in unintended damage. To “brighten” the painting, restorers applied a thick layer of varnish, which eventually darkened over time, obscuring much of the work’s detail.

When later efforts were made to remove the varnish, they caused abrasions to the painting’s surface, leading to further loss of Rembrandt’s original brushwork. The restoration efforts caused outrage among art lovers and highlighted the dangers of invasive techniques. Today, The Night Watch remains under close monitoring, with modern conservators using cutting-edge methods to prevent further damage.^[5]

5 The Frankenstein Mummy (Egypt, 19th Century)

In the 19th century, early Egyptologists attempted to conserve mummies using a variety of experimental techniques. One particularly disastrous example involved a mummy from the British Museum, which was treated with paraffin wax to stabilize its fragile wrappings. While the wax initially preserved the mummy, it later caused the linens to deteriorate, leaving parts of the artifact irreparably damaged.

The case exemplifies the trial-and-error approach of early conservation, where well-meaning but uninformed efforts often caused more harm than good. Today, conservators rely on non-invasive techniques, but the mistakes of the past serve as a reminder of the risks of experimenting on irreplaceable artifacts.^[5]

4 The “Cartoonish” St. George Statue (Spain, 2018)

In 2018, an attempt to restore a 16th-century wooden sculpture of St. George at the Church of San Miguel de Estella in Spain turned into a widely publicized disaster. The statue, depicting St. George slaying a dragon, was entrusted to a local crafts teacher lacking expertise in art restoration. The result was a garish transformation: the saint was repainted with bright pink cheeks, a flat expression, and an anachronistic color palette. The restoration obliterated the intricate details and historical layers of the original, sparking outrage among art historians and conservationists who lamented the irreversible damage to the centuries-old artifact.

The debacle highlighted the dangers of neglecting proper conservation protocols. Critics faulted the church and local authorities for failing to involve qualified professionals violating regulations for heritage preservation. The incident also reignited debates about protecting cultural artifacts, particularly in small communities with limited resources and awareness of conservation standards. Globally, the botched restoration attracted media attention and ridicule, with many comparing it to the infamous “Ecce Homo” fresco fiasco of 2012. While some hoped the uproar would spotlight the need for better funding and education in restoration practices, others mourned the loss of another irreplaceable piece of history to negligence.^[7]

3 The Flaking Vermeer: The Girl with the Pearl Earring (Netherlands, 1990s)

Johannes Vermeer’s The Girl with the Pearl Earring is one of the most beloved paintings in the world, but a restoration effort in the 1990s stirred controversy among art historians and conservators. The cleaning was intended to remove layers of varnish and grime that had accumulated over centuries, obscuring Vermeer’s luminous colors and delicate brushwork. While the cleaning did reveal the painting’s original brilliance, it also introduced new risks. Some experts claimed that micro-flaking appeared in certain areas, particularly around the girl’s face and the iconic pearl earring, due to the cleaning solvents used.

In addition, critics argued that the restoration may have stripped away layers of glaze that Vermeer himself applied, subtly altering the painting’s texture and depth. Although The Girl with the Pearl Earring remains a global icon, the restoration raised questions about the ethics of interventions that prioritize aesthetic appeal over historical integrity. This incident highlights the challenges of preserving fragile works while balancing the expectations of modern audiences and museums.^[8]

2 The “Potato Head” Jesus: Ecce Homo (Spain, 2012)

In 2012, a fresco of Jesus Christ, Ecce Homo, became an international sensation after an amateur restoration attempt went disastrously wrong. Painted by 19th-century artist Elías García Martínez, the fresco was a modest but revered depiction of Christ in the Sanctuary of Mercy church in Borja, Spain. Cecilia Giménez, a well-meaning but untrained parishioner in her 80s, attempted to restore the deteriorating work [LINK 9]. The result was a grotesque image with distorted proportions and what many described as a “Potato Head” or “Monkey Jesus.”

While the restoration was widely mocked, it unexpectedly transformed the small town of Borja into a tourist destination. Visitors flocked to see the botched fresco, and it became a symbol of both art-world cautionary tales and internet humor. Despite its comedic legacy, the incident sparked serious discussions about the risks of allowing unqualified individuals to work on significant cultural artifacts. Some experts have argued that the fresco could have been saved if professional intervention had been sought earlier, but now it is permanently altered—albeit with a new, peculiar charm.^[9]

1 The Ruined Rockefeller Picasso: Le Tricorne (USA, 2014)

Pablo Picasso’s Le Tricorne, a 1919 painted stage curtain, became the center of a controversial incident in 2014 when it was damaged during a move from New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant to the New York Historical Society. The curtain, measuring over 20 feet (6 meters) tall, had been a beloved fixture at the restaurant for decades, acting as both a decorative centerpiece and a symbol of modern art’s integration into public spaces. When the building’s management decided to move the piece to accommodate renovations, experts warned of the risks involved in transporting such a fragile artwork.

Those warnings proved prescient when Le Tricorne was torn during the transfer due to improper handling and inadequate equipment. The incident caused outrage in the art community, with critics accusing the movers and property owners of negligence. Although the curtain was eventually repaired, the damage was irreversible in certain areas, diminishing the artwork’s historical and cultural value. The controversy reignited debates about the responsibilities of private owners in safeguarding public treasures and highlighted the dangers of underestimating the complexities of moving large-scale, delicate artworks.^[10]

Rock and metal musicians are an interesting group of people. They manage to take what is, for most people, a hobby and elevate it to something that they can make a living off of. But the industry can be really fickle; you never really know what the next big thing is going to be. Just ask the hair metal bands of the late ’80s about the release of Nirvana’s album Nevermind, and you will see how fast the tides turned.

Due to this instability, it isn’t hard to see how one might have a backup plan or develop new skills outside of the music scene to survive. Additionally, the money and fame that come with success can open doors for musicians to pursue other passions that they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to pursue before. Here is a list of 10 rock/metal musicians who have had other professions.

Related: 10 Most Dangerous Jobs That’ll Make You Rich

10 Eric Stefani

You might recognize Eric based on his last name. That’s right, he is pop star Gwen Stefani’s brother and one of the founding members of the band No Doubt. Eric helped to form the band in 1986 but suddenly left in 1994 once the group had finished recording their third studio album, Tragic Kingdom. Why would a founding member of a band leave the group just as it was on the up and nearing a breakthrough? To pursue his true passion: animation.

Pursue might not be the best word, as Eric already had an established animation career starting in 1989 with The Simpsons. He actually worked on the very first episode. Eric put his animation on pause as work with No Doubt was ramping up and decided to resume with The Simpsons in 1994. In addition to The Simpsons, he has also worked on Ren and Stimpy and Rugrats and helped animate the opening sequence of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

While it may have seemed like a silly decision to leave a band that would become as big as No Doubt, it looks like Eric’s path was equally as fortunate. I mean, to be able to play a part in one of the biggest animated shows in television history is a huge accomplishment. Eric doesn’t seem to have regretted his decision, as he has been spotted at No Doubt shows and is often supportive of his sister’s career.^[1]

9 Vanilla Ice

Looking back at the rise of Vanilla Ice is like finding photos of your parents as teenagers. It is almost impossible to grasp that certain things were actually cool unless you were around at the time. In the early ’90s, Vanilla Ice was most definitely cool as ice. He was everywhere: in magazines, on the radio, and even on the silver screen. However, trends changed, and Vanilla Ice fell off hard. Accompanying his downfall was hard drug use, which almost killed him in 1994.

Despite his goofy style and somewhat silly rapping, there was more to Vanilla Ice than meets the eye. For instance, his real name is Robert Van Winkle. Ice was actually smart enough to branch out away from music and develop other skills when he noticed his popularity waning. Prior to his music career, he was really into motorsports and, in 1995, became the Number 6 ranked jet-ski racer in the world.

Even more successful was his real estate business, which he started working on the side at the same time. He was so successful with real estate and renovating that he actually scored a TV deal with the DIY Network called the Vanilla Ice Project that lasted for 9 seasons between 2010 and 2019. He has also published books on the process of buying and flipping houses, as well as focusing on how to have a celebrity-style home on a normal salary.^[2]

8 Stevo-32

“I don’t want to waste my time, become another casualty of society.” That was part of the chorus for Sum 41’s breakout hit “Fat Lip.” They are lyrics that only a kid ready to go out and make their mark on the world can sing earnestly. I’m not trying to knock the sentiment, but hearing this come out of a 20-year-old hits differently than someone in their 40s. No example is better than Sum 41’s very own drummer, Stevo-32.

After multiple platinum albums, playing up to 300 shows per year, and surviving through the emo boom of the 2000s, the drummer found himself ready to hang up the sticks. He left unceremoniously, and it was only recently that he discussed why. He states in an interview that he was burnt out and wanted to be with his wife and newborn.

It is totally understandable, but what blew a lot of people’s minds was what he went on to do next: real estate. Some noted that he became one of those suits that Sum 41 was railing against in their youth. Nevertheless, Stevo-32 (now Steve Jocz) is a rather successful real estate agent. There’s even a video showing just how great Steve is at his job!

Recently, Stevo-32 has moved on from “the former drummer of Sum 41” to now being the “current drummer in his basement” with a new YouTube channel focusing on the history of his time in the band while playing some of the old classics. I highly recommend his channel, which is both interesting and hilarious.^[]

7 Dan Spitz

When it comes to the “Big Four” of thrash metal bands, Anthrax is the one that people overlook the most. They shouldn’t, considering the contribution they made by teaming up with Public Enemy to bridge the divide between rap and metal music. On second thought, they may be responsible for the rap metal subgenre, so perhaps we shouldn’t be singing their praises just yet.

“Bring the Noise” was a pivotal moment for both metal and hip-hop, but did we ever consider the impact that this collaboration had on the musicians themselves? For instance, is it possible that the giant clock that Flavor Flav wore around his neck awoke some deep interest in timepieces for the legendary guitarist Dan Spitz? While I can find no actual mention of this inspiration, you cannot deny the link when, in 1995, Spitz quit Anthrax, gave his guitars and equipment away, and went on to pursue watchmaking.

Okay, I may be overselling the Flavor Flav connection: Spitz originally learned all about watches growing up in his grandfather’s antique jewelry store. The interest was always there with Spitz. So, when he grew tired of life on the road, he revisited his old interest, and he was quite good at it. Spitz has multiple degrees in watchmaking from around the world and is considered one of the premier horologists in the world. If you have a spare $128,000, you may be able to get one of his lower-end timepieces but expect to wait at least two years for it to be made.^[4]

6 Tom DeLonge

“Aliens Exist” is the third song on Blink 182’s breakout album Enema of the State. At the time, Blink 182 was seen as highly immature and unserious, despite some of the weightier subject matter that their later songs would explore. Of all the things for co-frontman Tom DeLonge to be serious about on an album with an adult film actress on the cover, songs about prank calling your ex’s parents, and a guy that spreads dysentery, I don’t think anyone expected it to be the existence of aliens.

While the other two members of Blink-182 were aware of Tom’s passion for the extraterrestrial, the public only took notice in 2014 when Tom formed a new band, Angels and Airwaves, that released material under his new company, To The Stars*. What started as an entertainment company releasing all sorts of media exploring space, UFOs, and the unknown quickly developed into recruiting scientists and ex-government employees to begin investigating and communicating with the U.S. government concerning extraterrestrial life.

Tom rebranded the company as To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences (TTSAAS) to reflect the more serious nature of the company’s efforts. The hard work paid off in 2023 when a congressional subcommittee met to confirm and discuss the existence of UFOs based on leaked video evidence that had been released by TTSAAS.

Since then, Tom and his band have been taking a sort of victory tour celebrating the band’s return as well as his success with TTSAAS. Mark frequently reminds the crowd that Tom was right. Amusingly, Tom has remarked that when approached by fans, there is a 50/50 split on whether they are fans of his music or fans of his work in Ufology.^[5]

5 Jeff “Skunk” Baxter

By the 1980s, Jeff Baxter had made quite a name for himself as an original member of Steely Dan before leaving to play in another iconic rock band, the Doobie Brothers. His playing style often traversed the musical spectrum from rock to funk to avant-garde, pulling from each to create a unique sound that would later inform his future career as a missile defense contractor. Baxter had a keen interest in recording equipment and noticed the military advancements in technology regarding data compression and storage.

As luck would have it, Baxter’s neighbor was a retired engineer who contributed to the Sidewinder missile program. The neighbor, noticing Baxter’s interest in the subject, bought him a subscription to Aviation Weekly. Baxter’s interest grew, and he became a self-taught missile defense expert. He authored a paper on the subject of converting the Navy’s anti-aircraft Aegis missile to a missile defense system. The paper was pushed along by Republican Congressman Dana Rohrbacher, and Baxter was launched into the world of defense consulting, eventually reaching the level of chair of the Congressional Advisory Board on missile defense.

Baxter has been very clear that his experience in the music industry has informed the unique way he thinks about military defense: “We thought turntables were for playing records until rappers began to use them as instruments, and we thought airplanes were for carrying passengers until terrorists realized they could be used as missiles.” By utilizing existing technologies, Baxter has been able to envision novel defense systems, much like he was able to craft genre-bending leads and melodies. At one point, the chairman of the Armed Service Committee asked an advisor if Baxter “is the guy from Raytheon or Boeing?” The advisor simply stated, “No, this is the guy from the Doobie Brothers.”^[6]

4 Billy Corgan

During the ’90s, one of the most popular bands was the Smashing Pumpkins. Fronted by the mercurial Billy Corgan, the band reached stardom by blending rock n roll (Cherub Rock), dreamy atmosphere (1979), and anger (Zero). To this day, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” remains one of their biggest hits with one of their most memorable choruses: “Despite all my rage, I’m still just a rat in a cage.” Initially, we may have all believed this to be a commentary on the futility of trying to escape the modern-day rat race, but maybe Billy was referring to a different type of cage—a wrestling cage match!

Corgan has loved wrestling since he was a kid, and it makes sense when you think about it. Pro wrestling offers violence, drama, passion, and showmanship all in one package. Like the Smashing Pumpkins, they know how to put on a good show. It’s no wonder that Corgan decided to throw his hat into the ring and acquire the National Wrestling Association in 2017. Since then, Corgan has incorporated matches into his music performances, and he even has a reality show, Adventures in Carnyland, that documents his work-life balance between rockstardom and running a professional wrestling company.^[7]

3 Adam Jones

When it comes to artistic integrity, few bands can come close to Tool. Everything they do is with intention and serves their vision. It’s a meme now, but when a band uses the Fibonacci sequence to create a rhythm for their song, you know that they are on another level. Another aspect of Tool that has created an extra layer of interest and mystique is the visuals, especially those found in its music videos. With equal parts H.R. Geiger, Salvador Dalí, and David Lynch, would you be surprised if I told you that one of the members worked in special effects?

Rolling Stone’s 75th best guitarist and Tool’s very own Adam Jones had quite an impressive resume in film before Tool was even signed in 1990. Some of his credits include Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Predator 2, where he worked on set design, makeup, special effects, and sculpting. One of his most notable creations was the iconic effects for “Freddy in the Womb” from Nightmare on Elm Street 5.^[8]

2 Bruce Dickinson

Some people might be fine with being the frontman of one of the biggest metal bands in the world, but Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson is not some people. While Bruce was out conquering the world with his operatic performances, he decided to take a flying lesson in Florida in 1990. Bruce has stated that he has always had an interest in aviation, which is quite evident from one of Iron Maiden’s biggest songs about war pilots, “Aces High.”

From there, Bruce got his license and began flying chartered flights for Astraeus. When Astraeus went defunct in 2010, Bruce started his own aircraft maintenance company called Cardiff Aviation Ltd. His piloting career has seen him fly members of the Royal Air Force, civilians out of conflict zones like Lebanon, and even the Rangers and Liverpool Football Clubs. At this point, I don’t even know what is more impressive.

I should also note that Bruce has written novels, created a radio show for the BBC, and created beer in partnership with Robinson’s Brewery. These efforts have earned Bruce the title of a Polymath by Intelligent Life magazine, but—much like the influences on Iron Maiden’s sound—I like to refer to him as a Renaissance Man.^[9]

1 Christian Jacobs

Most of the artists in this list are recognizable by their name or band, but Christian Jacobs is more of a cult figure. Nevertheless, his work as a musician and television producer/director has had quite an influence in their respective fields.

Fans of the ska revival of the ’90s might know Jacobs by his stage name: The MC Bat Commander, frontman of the band The Aquabats. For those unfamiliar with the band, The Aquabats are a group of costumed superheroes that travel the world fighting crime and boredom. Their shows include elaborate stage performances paired with their energetic, upbeat songs. While a mostly silly band, the group managed to achieve mainstream success and even had Travis Barker of Blink 182 join their ranks for a while.

You might gather from the description of the band and their shows that the act is for children. It isn’t, but it definitely serves as inspiration for Jacobs’s other project: creating and directing a kid’s television show. Jacobs is the co-creator of Yo Gabba Gabba! Much like his band, the show is quirky, weird, and very positive. Airing on Nickelodeon, the show featured many memorable segments, including drawing with Mark Mothersbaugh, dancing with Elijah Wood, and practicing beats with Biz Markie.

Reflecting on the success of the show and why he helped create it, Jacobs stated, “We wanted to watch something cooler, and that definitely became the design of the show, something that we would want to watch with our kids.” Honestly, I would say mission accomplished.^[10]

+ Bonus: Tim Lambesis

As I Lay Dying is one of those bands that transcended their genre to break through into the mainstream. Originally considered metalcore, their fourth album, An Ocean Between Us, debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200. Shortly after their sharp ascent into the mainstream, frontman Tim Lambesis was arrested in California.

This came as a bit of a shock because the band also marketed themselves as a proudly Christian band with many of the themes of their music based on their faith. Even more shocking was the reason for his arrest. Tim had attempted to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife. The trial revealed that over the years, Tim became obsessed with working out and distanced himself from his wife and children to the point that while he was on tour, he had emailed his wife stating that he didn’t love her, no longer was Christian, and was having an affair. Tim’s defense attempted to blame his erratic behavior on his rampant steroid abuse, but nevertheless, Tim was required to serve six years in prison.

As I Lay Dying was put on hold, but they eventually returned with Tim. However, news has broken that everyone but Tim has left the band for undisclosed reasons. Maybe Tim is trying to plan another hit or become a mob boss?^[11]

Count Dracula is, without a doubt, the most famous vampire in the world. The bloodsucker first burst onto the scene in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula and has since appeared in hundreds of films and TV shows. Thanks to his ubiquity, most people know the basic facts about Dracula: he lives in a castle in Transylvania, he can turn into a bat, and he’s hunted by Abraham Van Helsing. But here are 10 interesting things you might not know about the notorious vampire.

Related: 10 Best Monsters That Terrified Movie Goers

10 The First Adaptation Appeared Before the Novel Had Even Been Published

On May 18, 1897—eight days before the publication of Dracula—Stoker put on an adaptation of the novel at the Lyceum Theatre in London, where he worked as a business manager. The author did this not because he was particularly eager to see his words come to life but because he wanted to own the copyright for stage adaptations. At the time, the Stage Licensing Act of 1737 and the Theatres Act of 1843 meant that a play had to be publicly performed before the rights could officially be assigned.

The script of the play was hastily repurposed from the text of the novel, with scene-setting descriptions chopped out and exposition inelegantly turned into dialogue. The entire play took around six hours to perform, and there were only two paying customers (which isn’t surprising considering adverts were only put up half an hour before the play started).

Stoker’s boss, actor and manager Henry Irving, allegedly summed up his opinion of the play in just one word: “Dreadful.”^[1]

9 Nosferatu (1922) Was Almost Destroyed

F. W. Murnau’s silent German film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is one of the earliest adaptations of Dracula. However, Murnau didn’t actually get legal permission to make the film, so he changed a few details in an attempt to avoid copyright infringement, such as calling the vampire Count Orlok.

Stoker died in 1912, but when his widow, Florence, found out about Nosferatu, she sued Prana Film and—due to the film’s blatant retelling of Dracula—won. The studio was bankrupt, though, so they couldn’t pay the financial settlement, leading Florence to demand that every copy of the film be destroyed. However, a few copies slipped through the cracks, and the film—which is now considered a horror classic—survived.^[2]

8 Lack of Copyright Enabled Dracula’s Proliferation and Popularity

After winning the legal battle against Prana, Florence decided to set up a film deal for Dracula with Columbia Pictures. However, it was then revealed that while Bram had applied for copyright in the United States, he hadn’t actually dotted every “I” and crossed every “t.” The book, therefore, fell into the public domain, which, unfortunately for Florence and Stoker’s direct descendants, meant that not only did they have no say in what was made, but they also didn’t receive any U.S. royalties.

Although the lack of copyright was a loss for Stoker’s family, it was a massive win for filmmakers, who went wild making adaptations. Had Dracula not starred in so many films, he likely wouldn’t have reached such heights of popularity. According to the Guinness World Records, Dracula is even the most portrayed literary character in films and on TV.^[3]

7 There Have Been Many Weird Adaptations of the Novel

Considering Dracula has appeared in literally hundreds of films, it’s no surprise that some of his appearances have left a little—or, rather, a lot—to be desired. For instance, Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966) does exactly what the title suggests, although not particularly well. The horror icon and the legendary Western outlaw face off against each other when Dracula sets his sights on Billy’s girlfriend.

A couple of other strange Dracula films include Dracula’s Dog (1977) and Dracula 3000 (2004). The former, which is also known as Zoltan… Hound of Dracula, follows the adventures of a Doberman Pinscher called Zoltan, who was turned into a vampire by Dracula. Dracula 3000 is set in the year 3000 and follows Captain Van Helsing aboard a spaceship version of the Demeter, which is currently inhabited by Count Orlock (in a nod to Nosferatu).^[4]

6 Dracula Probably Wasn’t Based on Vlad the Impaler

Vlad the Impaler is usually identified as the inspiration for Dracula, but the ruthless Transylvanian prince doesn’t actually pop up anywhere in the extensive notes that Stoker made for the novel. Although that doesn’t rule Vlad out as a possibility, he’s definitely not a certainty.

Some scholars have noted the similarities between Dracula and Stoker’s boss, Henry Irving. Stoker was captivated by Irving’s theatrical talent despite his egotistical personality. These characteristics apply to Dracula, and the physical description of the vampire—an aquiline nose, bushy brows, and domed forehead—also match Irving.

Another possibility is that Dracula was inspired by Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory, who, according to legend, murdered young women so that she could bathe in their blood and gain their youthfulness. Others have linked Dracula’s murderous streak to Jack the Ripper, while some people have traced his sexual transgressions to Oscar Wilde.

None of these inspirations have been definitively proven, and the character may just as easily have come from Stoker’s own imagination. According to Stoker’s biographer Harry Ludlam, the novel sprang from a nightmare the author had of “a vampire king rising from the tomb to go about his ghastly business.”^[5]

5 Dracula’s Castle Likely Wasn’t Based on Bran Castle in Transylvania

If you type “Dracula’s Castle” into Google, all of the top results are about Bran Castle in Transylvania. However, there’s no evidence that Bram Stoker even knew about this castle. That hasn’t stopped Bran Castle from making the most of its claim to Dracula frame, of course, with its official website stating that Stoker may have been inspired by an illustration in Charles Boner’s Transylvania: Its Product and Its People (1865).

A far more likely castle candidate for Stoker’s inspiration is Slains Castle in Scotland. Stoker visited Aberdeenshire many times while writing Dracula, with his wife reporting that he “seemed to get obsessed by the spirit of the thing” and “would sit for hours, like a great bat, perched on the rocks of the shore, or wander alone up and down the sand hills thinking it all out.” The couple once stayed in the Kilmarnock Arms, just a 15-minute walk from Slains Castle, which bears a striking resemblance to Stoker’s descriptions of Dracula’s lair—right down to the octagonal room in both buildings.^[6]

4 Bela Lugosi Was Buried Wearing His Dracula Cape

Many famous actors have played Dracula—from Christopher Lee to Adam Sandler—but the most iconic performance of the vampire was given by Bela Lugosi in Universal’s 1931 adaptation, simply titled Dracula. Lugosi died on August 16, 1956, and it’s commonly reported that he asked to be buried wearing one of the long black capes that he had worn when playing Dracula (there were a few different versions of the cape).

While it is true that Lugosi was laid to rest wearing the garment, it wasn’t actually at his own request. “My mother and myself had him buried in one of his capes,” his son, Bela George Lugosi, said. “Not that he had ever expressed that wish, but we thought it would be appropriate.”

Lugosi Jr. kept another one of his father’s capes as a keepsake, and in 2011, he put it up for auction, with bids starting at $1.2 million, but it failed to sell. “The experience made us realize we didn’t want it in some collector’s closet for the world never to see,” Lugosi later said. In 2019, he donated it to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures so that the iconic piece of movie history could be admired by fans.^[7]

3 Count Dracula Was Originally Called Count Wampyr

In Stoker’s notes for the novel—early iterations of which were called “The Un-Dead” and “The Dead Un-Dead”—he originally called his villainous vampire “Count Wampyr,” a name that was unlikely to strike fear into the heart of any reader.

Stoker’s vampire got a new name thanks to a visit to a library in Whitby, the English seaside town where part of the novel is set. He read William Wilkinson’s An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (1820) and came across the word “Dracula” as a description of a few Voivode (essentially military leaders). The book contained a footnote explaining that “Dracula in the Wallachian language means devil,” and he copied it into his own notes.

While Vlad the Impaler—who is commonly cited as an inspiration for Dracula—was a member of the House of Drăculești and is sometimes described as Voivode Dracula, that is likely a coincidence. Stoker’s notes indicate that he simply chose the name because of its devilish connotations.^[8]

2 English & Spanish Film Versions Filmed on Same Set… at Same Time

The most famous adaptation of Dracula is Universal’s 1931 film, directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi. But when the cast and crew were done for the day, another crew came in to shoot basically the same film, but in Spanish. Filming alternate language versions of films concurrently wasn’t uncommon in Hollywood at that time.

Each night, director George Melford would use the same sets to shoot Drácula, which starred Carlos Villarías as Conde Drácula. Melford’s Spanish version was shot in less time than Browning’s and was allocated a smaller budget, but it ended up being 29 minutes longer. It features more dialogue and more shots of Dracula’s castle. Melford was also able to watch Browning’s dailies and make improvements to the framing and lighting of his own shots.

It was thought that all prints of the Spanish film were lost after its initial release in Cuba, but a partially damaged copy was found in New Jersey in the 1970s. Then, in the 1990s, it was revealed that a fully intact copy was still in Cuba. Drácula has now been preserved in the U.S. Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.^[9]

1 The Icelandic and Swedish Versions Differ from the Original English Novel

In 2017, it came to light that the Icelandic version of Dracula, Makt Myrkranna (Powers of Darkness), isn’t a faithful translation. Hans Corneel de Roos discovered that Valdimar Ásmundsson took some pretty big liberties when translating the book into Icelandic when it was first serialized in a Fjallkonan newspaper in 1900.

Roos writes that “the original novel can be tedious and meandering,” whereas “Powers of Darkness, by contrast, is written in a concise, punchy style; each scene adds to the progress of the plot.” The Icelandic version does away with long scenes of sentimentality and legal discussions. Instead, it injects more action and humor into the plot.

However, Rickard Berghorn discovered that the Icelandic version was actually based on the Swedish translation of the novel Mörkrets Makter, which was printed in Dagen newspaper in 1899. Whether Mörkrets Makter was merely the anonymous translator’s own spin on the tale or whether it was somehow based on early drafts of Stoker’s novel isn’t yet clear.^[10]

Many consider dreams to be a door into the subconscious mind. The hidden truths they reveal can appear in various forms. Nightmares that evoke disgust, shame, or sorrow or terrify you to your very core are one. Or they could show up as a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime experience you don’t want to wake up from—and just about everything in between. For some, they can even inspire masterpieces, the likes of which the world has never seen. Check out these 10 masterful works of art, music, literature, or film inspired by dreams.

Related: Ten Renowned Artists Who Were Unappreciated in Life

10 “#9 Dream” (1974): John Lennon

After a months-long bout of writer’s block, John Lennon fell into a “half-sleep” and heard a mysterious voice speak to him in a language he didn’t understand. The sound jolted him from his sleep, and the words kept playing in his mind: “Ah! böwakawa poussé, poussé.” For the first time in months, lyrics flowed freely. Lennon discussed the process of writing the song in an interview with BBC:

“That’s what I call craftsmanship writing, meaning, you know, I just churned that out. I’m not putting it down, it’s just what it is, but I just sat down and wrote it, you know, with no real inspiration, based on a dream I’d had.”

May Pang, an Apple Corps employee with whom Lennon had a Yoko-Ono-authorized short affair, described the track as one of his favorite songs from his 1974 album Walls and Bridges:

“This was one of John’s favourite songs… because it literally came to him in a dream. He woke up and wrote down those words along with the melody. He had no idea what it meant, but he thought it sounded beautiful. John arranged the strings in such a way that the song really does sound like a dream.”^[1]

9 Songs of Innocence (1789): William Blake

William Blake, an English poet, artist, and printmaker, pioneered a printing method he used to create some of his most famous works. These include Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, two illustrated books of poetry that provide a “profound commentary on the human condition, from the purity of youth [Songs of Innocence] to the harsh realities of life [Songs of Experience].” To create the “illuminated” works, Blake used copper plates for the text and illustrations, then finished each picture by hand with watercolors.

Even more unique than the artworks was the inspiration for the printing process used to make them, which Blake described as a dream in which his youngest brother, Robert, visited. Blake was training his brother in drawing, painting, and engraving when Robert suddenly fell ill during the winter of 1787. As Robert died, Blake claims to have watched his spirit rise through the ceiling, “clapping its hands for joy.” Robert continued to visit him after that, eventually showing him the printing method for which Blake would become renowned.^[2]

8 Waking Life (2001): Richard Linklater

An image near the beginning of independent filmmaker Richard Linklater’s movie Waking Life was based on one of his childhood dreams. In the scene, a 9-10-year-old boy wearing a striped T-shirt holds the handle of the family car when his body suddenly begins to float upward. A mysterious force appears to pull him up and away from the world and its “everyday reality.” Holding onto the car with all his strength, the boy resists the temptation to drift away.

“That’s a very early memory of mine,” said Linklater, “I call it a memory, but obviously it took place in a dream state. When you’re a little kid, you don’t really make the distinction that clearly. As you get older, you build up a solid model of real versus unreal, and you start depreciating the unreal. But that moment was weird. I remember it very clearly because it was scary but kind of exhilarating—a sort of non-gravity, upward pull away from what you felt the whole world was, but at the same time, there was some force begging me to stay. That was some strange memory.”^[3]

7 The Red Book (2009): Carl Jung

Carl Jung’s famous Red Book is a compilation of illustrated journal entries from a particularly dark period in his life when he was “haunted” by troubling visions and heard inner voices. He ultimately considered this time a “confrontation with the unconscious.” Though kept private during his lifetime, the entries were found and published after his death.

Journalist Sara Corbett describes The Red Book as “a kind of phantasmagoric morality play, driven by Jung’s own wish not just to chart a course out of the mangrove swamp of his inner world but also to take some of its riches with him. It was this last part – the idea that a person might move beneficially between the poles of the rational and irrational, the light and the dark, the conscious and the unconscious—that provided the germ for his later work and for what analytical psychology would become.”

Or, in Jung’s own words, “All my works, all my creative activity, has come from those initial fantasies and dreams.”^[4]

6 Frankenstein (1816): Mary Shelley + Other Classics

Mary Shelley wrote in her preface to the novel Frankenstein that her inspiration came from a nightmare she had while staying in Geneva with the poet Lord Byron. When she went to sleep, she wrote:

“I saw—with shut eyes but acute mental vision—I saw the pale student of the unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion…”

Similarly, Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have developed the storyline for The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde after a nightmare where he witnessed “a man forced into a cabinet after ingesting a potion that would ‘convert him into a brutal monster.’”

Another example is Bram Stroker’s (1897) Dracula. According to his son, Stoker claimed the book’s inspiration came from a nightmare induced by “a too-generous helping of dressed crab at supper”—one of several theories supported by his notes.^[5]

5 Book of Dreams (1960): Jack Kerouac

Dreams were a consistent source of inspiration for American Writer Jack Kerouac, a pioneer of the Beat Generation of the 1950s. He believed they held a more profound meaning beyond the surface level and eventually published a collection of personal dream journal entries titled Book of Dreams. In it, he writes: “Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.” Through his writing, Kerouac presents a fascinating insight into his mind and creative process while encouraging readers to examine their dreams as a powerful tool for self-discovery and artistic expression.

The Book of Dreams defies traditional structures and styles by its lack of organization. Divided into sections, each with its theme, there is no straightforward narrative or plot. Kerouac presents the dreams in a stream-of-consciousness style that reflects how dreams unfold. Also thrown into the mix is a dream that inspired Kerouac’s most famous novel, On the Road, in which he saw himself and his friend Neal Cassady driving cross-country in a car.^[6]

4 Dreamcatcher (2001): Stephen King

In 1990, a minivan smashed into Stephen King as he walked down a country road near his home in North Lovell, Maine. He underwent three operations and endured a months-long recovery, during which he experienced vivid dreams. Some of these dreams ultimately led to the creation of one of his best-selling novels, Dreamcatcher, later adapted as a film directed by Lawrence Kasdan.

“The first really strong idea that occurred to me after the accident was four guys in a cabin in the woods,” said King. “Then you introduce this one guy who staggers into the camp saying, ‘I don’t feel well,’ and he brings this awful hitchhiker with him. I dreamed a lot about that cabin and those guys in it.”

Due to the severity of his injuries, King was unable to type. He wrote the story in longhand in just six months. His vivid dreams were the closest he had gotten to the type of otherworldly phenomena present in so much of his work.^[7]

3 The Devil’s Trill Sonata (1799): Giuseppe Tartini

Giuseppe Tartini’s most famous musical piece, “Violin Sonata in G Minor”—more famously known as “The Devil’s Trill”—contains a dreamlike harmonic vibe and a melody that is hauntingly poignant and deeply dramatic. It is one of the most challenging scores to play, even by today’s standards. Equally stirring is the sonata’s inspiration: a nightmare in which Tartini made a deal with the devil.

Tartini explained in an interview with French astronomer Jerome Lalande just moments before his death on February 26, 1770:

“One night, in the year 1713, I dreamed I had made a pact with the devil for my soul. Everything went as I wished: my new servant anticipated my every desire. Among other things, I gave him my violin to see if he could play. How great was my astonishment on hearing a sonata so wonderful and so beautiful, played with such great art and intelligence, as I had never even conceived in my boldest flights of fantasy.

I felt enraptured, transported, enchanted: my breath failed me, and I awoke. I immediately grasped my violin in order to retain, in part at least, the impression of my dream. In vain! The music which I at this time composed is indeed the best that I ever wrote, and I still call it the ‘Devil’s Trill,’ but the difference between it and that which so moved me is so great that I would have destroyed my instrument and have said farewell to music forever if it had been possible for me to live without the enjoyment it affords me.”^[8]

2 Persistence of Memory (1931): Salvador Dali

Spanish artist Salvador Dali considered sleep as a tool that could fuel his Surrealist practice due to its connection to the unconscious mind. He would take many brief naps to enter into a “fleeting hyper-associative state,” enabling him to combine unpredictable associations and concepts to challenge perceptions and evoke dreams. It was a technique that became known as the Paranoiac-Critical Method. In the artist’s words, the technique was a “spontaneous method of irrational knowledge” that allowed him to tap into his subconscious and explore the depths of his psyche.

The unusual method relied on self-induced paranoia and hallucinations, allowing Dali to accurately create “hand-painted dream photographs” that were simultaneously rotted in realism and fantasy, deliberately designed to confuse the viewer’s eye. He used this method to make many artworks, including one of his most iconic paintings, The Persistence of Memory. Dali hallucinated the entire scene before painting what he saw.^[9]

1 Avatar (2009): James Cameron

More than one idea for a movie scene has come from what James Cameron describes as his “spectacular dreams.” As he said in an interview with GQ magazine, “I have my own private streaming service that’s better than any of the sh*t out there. And it runs every night for free.”

Not only did he dream of the iconic scene in Aliens where Ripley sees the Alien Queen after standing in a silent room full of eggs, but his fantasy epic, Avatar, also came from his subconscious:

“I woke up after dreaming of this kind of bioluminescent forest with these trees that look kind of like fiberoptic lamps and this river that was glowing bioluminescent particles and kind of purple moss on the ground that lit up when you walked on it… And these kinds of lizards that didn’t look like much until they took off. And then they turned into these rotating fans, kind of like living Frisbees, and they come down and land on something.”

When he woke up, he was so excited that he drew it. The drawing later saved him from at least ten lawsuits after some claimed he’d “beamed the idea out of their head.”^[10]