These live music performances fell flat. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the worst live performances ruined by the artist or crowd.
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00:00And the Rockets' red glare
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo!
00:09And today we're counting down our picks for the worst live performances ruined by the artist or crowd.
00:14I don't wanna feel like I did that day
00:2220. Sex Pistols
00:24Winterland Ballroom
00:26Some groups go out with a bang and others go out with a whimper.
00:35During the Sex Pistols' infamous 1978 United States tour, they ran into a series of issues.
00:41Things eventually reached a boiling point while at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
00:46Right before the encore, Johnny Rotten announced they'd only be doing one song.
00:51A cover of the Stooges' No Fun.
00:57What followed was an oddly accurate performance, where a jaded Rotten used the lyrics as a representation of his own negative feelings towards the group.
01:09You're no fun, my babe, you're no fun.
01:15After the lackluster cover, Rotten cryptically asked the crowd if they'd ever felt cheated,
01:20before storming off and ending the show and his time with the band until their reunion in the late 1990s.
01:27Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night.
01:3219. 50 Cent
01:34The 7th BET Awards
01:36Performing at an award show can be a benefit to an artist's career, as they get to present their art to a live and televised audience.
01:48It seemed like 50 Cent was off to a great start when he descended into the 2007 BET Awards.
01:54But it soon became clear something was wrong.
01:57He skipped the entire first verse, opting to hop off the stage and do some crowd work instead.
02:06While he was eventually able to recover, the damage was already done.
02:15When questioned about it afterwards, the rapper ended up pinning the blame on the aerialist who inadvertently bumped him, throwing him off track.
02:23While it was an understandable explanation, it still doesn't make the near minute of silence mid-performance any less uncomfortable.
02:3618. The Pussycat Dolls
02:38The 34th American Music Awards
02:41Sometimes, all it takes is one performance to reveal a true group dynamic.
02:51Headed by Nicole Scherzinger, the Pussycat Dolls were known for their sultry lyrics and dancing.
02:56During their appearance at the 2006 American Music Awards, they began their hit, Buttons, without one of their members, Melody Thornton.
03:07Things had been going wrong already, with one of their chairs toppling over mid-song.
03:12Things went from odd to bizarre when Thornton suddenly ran on stage just in time for the final chorus, and immediately commanded attention with several vocal runs.
03:29The rest of the performance became a battle for the spotlight between the two divas.
03:33The timing made it seem like Thornton was crashing her own group, making it evident just how fractured they were.
03:4517. Madonna
03:47The 64th Eurovision Song Contest
03:50Even the Queen of Pop isn't immune from flopping.
03:53An icon like Madonna performing a huge event like Eurovision should have been a highlight, but it ended up being the complete opposite.
04:04It wasn't her best vocal showing, with even one of her most iconic hits, Like a Prayer, sounding off-key.
04:10The addition of divisive political symbols only made things worse.
04:14What made things even worse was her team's reaction.
04:17Rather than own the underwhelming appearance, they instead uploaded a completely auto-tuned version on YouTube.
04:23People soon saw through the ruse when the real audio was released.
04:33In an era where practically everyone has access to a video camera and internet, we can't help but wonder who they were trying to fool.
04:4616. Lana Del Rey – Saturday Night Live
04:50Although it's hard to believe now given her huge fanbase, her career nearly died just as it was beginning.
05:03Lana Del Rey's sudden ascension to success in the early 2010s led to her getting plenty of opportunities, including being the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.
05:13Things immediately went wrong during a performance of her breakout hit, Video Games.
05:18Her unique vocal techniques didn't translate well, resulting in a slightly disjointed and seemingly uncontrolled presentation.
05:29Her second song, Blue Jeans, didn't go much better, resulting in her being deemed one of the worst in the show's history by some on the network.
05:38While she was eventually able to overcome the rough set, to this day, she's still reluctant to perform on live TV.
05:5015. Green Day – The Second iHeartRadio Music Festival
05:54Even if someone's anger is justified, seeing them act out on it publicly is nothing short of uncomfortable.
06:01Green Day was mid-song at the iHeartRadio Festival in 2012 when their lead singer, Billy Joe Armstrong, suddenly snapped after assuming that their time was being cut short.
06:11He stopped performing and launched into an expletive-ridden rant, complete with pulling rank and calling out newer artists.
06:21When they inevitably ran out of time, Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt smashed their instruments and walked off.
06:27The spectacle was so intense that the band issued an apology in an announcement that Armstrong was going to rehab.
06:33It was a dark moment, but luckily they were able to reconcile with the event just a few years later.
06:4314. Britney Spears – The 24th MTV Video Music Awards
06:472007 was undoubtedly a rough year for the princess of pop.
06:57With several different familial issues going on at the time, the MTV Video Music Awards were most likely the last thing on her mind.
07:05Still, she showed up to perform her newest hit, Gimme More, although by the end, some were asking for the exact opposite.
07:16From the beginning, her lack of energy was apparent and even appeared to be half-heartedly lip-syncing.
07:22It was clear she was just going through the motions, resulting in a completely out-of-character performance.
07:27She was slighted by critics and her peers, and while she was able to recover professionally,
07:32it became an unfortunate representation of the personal and mental struggles she was facing.
07:4313. Oasis – Whiskey A Go-Go
07:46They're as well-known for their dramatics as they are for their sheer musical ability.
07:51It's no secret that the Gallaghers, the brothers behind Oasis, have an explosive relationship.
08:04That's been apparent since their first tour, when one infamous concert nearly caused them to call it quits.
08:09Liam had indulged in some chemical encouragement prior to the show, and by the time he hit the stage, it was clear just how intoxicated he was.
08:22The result was a truly chaotic night, where the singer reportedly mocked the audience and even struck his older brother with a tambourine.
08:29While the crowd didn't seem too mad, the same couldn't be said for Noel, who ended up being so upset that he temporarily quit the band.
08:4212. Roseanne Barr – Jack Murphy Stadium
08:52It's no secret that comedians push boundaries to get laughs, but there's a time and place for everything, and during the Star-Spangled Banner isn't one of those times.
09:01While kicking off a game between the San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds, she was tasked with singing the anthem.
09:07As soon as she took the mic, things went wrong.
09:11She immediately began screaming the lyrics, later claiming it was because she couldn't hear herself.
09:17As if that wasn't enough, she topped off the rendition with vulgar gestures, in an attempt to parody the players.
09:24However, it only served to make her look even more disrespectful.
09:27The backlash was severe, with even the president at the time, George H.W. Bush, calling it a disgrace.
09:4111. Kanye West – Saturday Night Live
09:46He's known for his eclectic shows, but for this one, he bit off a little more than he could chew.
09:55In the original version of Love Lockdown, Kanye utilized autotune to help with the sound.
10:00When it came time to perform the piece on Saturday Night Live, he attempted to emulate that by singing through a vocoder.
10:11It didn't translate well to a live setting, with the autotune only being apparent some of the time,
10:17and his higher notes being cut out and replaced entirely by a random female vocal.
10:26A decade later, another SNL appearance, in which he wore Trump merchandise and expressed support for the divisive politician, was also problematic.
10:4110. Caroline Marcille – Quebec Coliseum
10:46It's one thing to sing the national anthem poorly, it's another thing entirely to not know it at all.
10:59When Caroline Marcille stepped up to perform at a 2005 hockey game, it was clear how nervous she was.
11:05That became more apparent when she had to restart twice due to her forgetting the lyrics.
11:15She was determined to finish, even with the crowd already viciously booing her.
11:19She left to get the lyrics, and when she returned, she immediately slipped and fell.
11:23That ended up being the final straw.
11:29When she left the ice again, she didn't return.
11:32While it was a disaster, what makes it worse is that her voice sounded fine, meaning she could have pulled it off had she known the words.
11:43While she completely rebranded herself in recent years,