From forgotten lyrics to technical failures, we're diving into the most cringe-worthy live vocal performances ever broadcast! Watch as famous singers struggle through technical difficulties, forgotten lyrics, and questionable artistic choices that left audiences stunned and social media buzzing.
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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, Ashley Simpson.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most disastrous singing performances that happen live on TV.
00:21Number 10, The Pussycat Dolls, the 34th Annual American Music Awards.
00:25With over 50 million records sold, the Pussycat Dolls are one of the best-selling pop groups in history.
00:31Their fame peaked in the 2000s when they were invited to the 2006 AMAs.
00:42Not winning any of the three awards they were nominated for wasn't the worst part of the night.
00:47PCD's performance of Buttons became infamous.
00:50American Music Awards, loosen up my buttons, babe.
00:55Melody Thornton was missing until the last 30 seconds, and decided to battle for the spotlight when finally appearing.
01:01A keen eye will also spot one of the prop chairs getting awkwardly toppled over.
01:06Take a chance to recognize that this could be yours.
01:11Number 9, Guns N' Roses, the 7th Revolver Golden Gods Awards.
01:15Welcome to the jungle.
01:17We got fun and games.
01:18We got everything you want.
01:21I don't know what you know the name.
01:22Axl Rose has a reputation for being such a rock star diva that he once appeared at a concert late so he could finish watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.
01:31One of his band's most notorious performances happened in 2014, after Rose won the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award.
01:38Remember the shot?
01:39The words of Barry B12.
01:41So we're not the first one in the 70s.
01:44Yes!
01:44After a few delays, the audience was treated to an hour-long Guns N' Roses set.
01:49Well, it was only a treat for fans of disappointing vocals that suggested Rose's prime was decades ago.
01:55Somehow, he was still able to become the frontman for ACDC two years later, a role he, unsurprisingly, didn't hold onto for long.
02:12Number 8, Lana Del Rey, Saturday Night Live.
02:15It's not often you see Del Rey perform live on television, even though she's one of the globe's most famous vocalists.
02:21Fans will know it's partly because of her Car Crash SNL performance in 2012.
02:25She appeared to sing both video games and blue jeans, staples of her early career.
02:36It's easy to see how nervous she was, which was probably the major reason her vocals were so weak.
02:42I was like, no, please stay here.
02:46We don't need no money, we can make it all work.
02:50Del Rey was so traumatized, she's since only performed on The Tonight Show in 2020.
02:55That was during lockdown, so they weren't allowed an audience.
02:59This helped with the stage fright quite a bit.
03:01The incident on SNL didn't seem to hamper Del Rey's extremely successful career.
03:06Swinging in the old bar, singing with the old stars, living for the fame.
03:13Number 7, Britney Spears, the 24th Annual MTV Video Music Awards.
03:18I see you, and I just want to dance with you.
03:23The Princess of Pop was one of America's most talented and controversial singers,
03:27selling more than 150 million records in her huge career.
03:31It's pretty surprising to see a poor performance from her on the stage.
03:35In 2007, Spears opened the MTV VMAs with Gimme More,
03:39but it was universally panned for her lack of energy and poor lip syncing.
03:43Feels like my girl will say,
03:45Gimme, gimme more, gimme more, gimme more, gimme more.
03:49So what went wrong?
03:51Spears was in a particularly challenging period of her life,
03:54so she wasn't interested in performing, but her team pressured her to.
03:58Problems kept appearing before going on stage.
04:01Plus, her ex Justin Timberlake was having a blast while she was at an all-time low.
04:05On the bright side, Leave Britney Alone was released soon after, making YouTube history.
04:11Speaking of professionalism,
04:13when is it professional to publicly bash someone who's going through a hard time?
04:18Leave Britney alone!
04:21Number 6, Mariah Carey, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
04:25Fans of Carey would be delighted to see her perform at Times Square on New Year's Eve.
04:30Excitement soon turned to disappointment after she made it on stage.
04:33Well, Happy New Year!
04:36We can't hear, but I'll just get through the motions, okay?
04:41Within a minute of starting the show, you can tell something's wrong.
04:45Her dancers were killing it, but Carey was complaining that she couldn't hear anything.
04:49As such, she didn't sing for almost an entire song.
04:53Carey claimed the producers had set her up to fail, which they denied.
04:57According to them, they'd never want to compromise a performance on their show,
05:01and that it was simply a technical error.
05:03Bring the feathers on, yes!
05:06And, um, you just don't get any better.
05:11Number 5, Caroline Marsil at the Quebec Coliseum.
05:15This performance was so bad, it became the only thing the artist is known for.
05:19Montreal singer Caroline Marsil was invited to sing the national anthems of the U.S. and Canada
05:37for an exhibition game in Quebec City.
05:40While her voice was strong, her memory wasn't.
05:43Marsil forgot the words twice, cutting her performance short only a couple of lines in.
05:47One, two, twaties!
05:50Oh, sorry.
05:56After two attempts, she left the stage, probably to find the lyrics.
06:01Unfortunately for her, the third attempt was the biggest disaster.
06:05Marsil collapsed on the ice, her monumental failure being broadcast to the whole of two countries.
06:11Number 4, Milli Vanilli, Club MTV.
06:13In 1989, Milli Vanilli rapidly achieved international stardom, then rapidly lost it in the same year.
06:21Their downfall was a historically poor MTV performance in Bristol, Connecticut.
06:25A hardware error caused half of one line to play on repeat, kind of like a broken record player.
06:30It wouldn't have been that bad had either member been able to sing their songs.
06:40It turned out none in the band did, as later confirmed by their manager.
06:44We felt like we were abandoned by everyone.
06:46That's what it felt like.
06:47Because when the news came out, we were the ones that people were focusing on.
06:52The fact of the matter is, there were a lot of people that were involved with the project.
06:55This revelation caused a meteoric backlash, with awards revoked and multiple lawsuits filed.
07:04People would have found out at some point, but their Connecticut blunder catalyzed their downfall.
07:09You left alone.
07:13We were famous, now we're infamous, just like that.
07:16Number 3, Ashley Simpson, Saturday Night Live.
07:19Up-and-coming star Ashley Simpson, the younger sister of Jessica Simpson, decided to perform on SNL in 2004.
07:26If all went to plan, it could have boosted her sales and status.
07:30Sadly, it didn't, and her career took a massive hit.
07:33I had a vocal problem.
07:35I had two nodes beating against each other, and I woke up and I had no voice.
07:39And then I should have said, no, I will not go on, I will not do this.
07:42Simpson had lost her voice on the day, and was forced to lip-sync the performance.
07:46Her first song went well, but then the drummer pressed the wrong button, cueing the wrong track.
08:01The band decided to play the wrong song, Confusing Simpson, who walked offstage after unsuccessfully trying to dance it off.
08:09She received huge criticism for the incident, which, in hindsight, was barely justified.
08:14I had the number one song.
08:16It was like everything was about to go, like, somewhere, and then it was just like, whoa, the humility of not even understanding what grown-ass people would say about you.
08:28Number 2, Fergie, the NBA All-Star Game.
08:31You probably know her from the Black-Eyed Peas, who had her as a member during their peak years.
08:50Her departure in 2018 was announced on the same day she performed the Star-Spangled Banner for an NBA game.
08:56But, Fergie decided to put her own spin on it, adding a bit of spice to the anthem, which few appreciated.
09:02The bombs bursting in air!
09:09At the climax, you can see the player struggling not to laugh.
09:13The most impressive thing about this performance is that it somehow isn't the anthem's worst rendition.
09:18Fergie's barely been in the spotlight since, with this show likely being a factor.
09:22I don't want to put any disrespect on the national anthem.
09:25That, I wanted to make clear, that's why I put out the statement.
09:28And then after that was, you know, a breath that people knew that I wasn't trying to disrespect anybody.
09:32Then I wanted to joke.
09:34And the funny thing is, I felt like I was too, I didn't want to be lame, I felt like I was too late to the joke then.
09:39Before we unveil our top pick, here are some dishonorable mentions.
09:4350 Cent, the 7th Annual BET Awards.
09:46Forgot a whole verse, then blamed it on an aerialist.
09:49Bitch, what's up, man?
09:51I'm trying to figure out where anybody at.
09:54What's up?
09:56Metallica and Lady Gaga, the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
10:00James Hetfield's microphone wasn't plugged in until the song's climax.
10:03I don't know the way, it's a lot that wrong, it's a lot that wrong.
10:10Madonna, the 64th Annual Eurovision Song Contest.
10:14An unusually weak performance from a strong vocalist.
10:16Just like a dream, you are not what you see.
10:21Just like a banner, but your voice can't take me there.
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10:40Taking our top spot is the most infamous rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner in history.
10:57Roseanne Barr began her career as a stand-up comedian, later gaining a sitcom and a talk show.
11:03Being a singer was never the priority for her, as was proven in 1990.
11:07For some obscure reason, she was chosen to open for a baseball game,
11:12which turned into one of the worst decisions in the sport's history.
11:15It seemed to draw more influence from the most avant-garde Yoko Ono tracks than the national anthem itself.
11:28It was so bad that even President George H.W. Bush was offended.
11:32I think this was my one shot.
11:35And about 250 Americans agreed.
11:38Were there any particularly diabolical performances we forgot to include?
11:42Leave them in the comment section below.
11:44We're missing some of this logo, but it is weird.
11:48But I like the way you sing.
11:53I'm gonna say let the audience sing, okay?