Rockers Off Their Rockers: 25 Musicians Who Went Kind Of Cray-Cray
They say that there's a fine line between genius and insanity, which might explain why some of our all-time favorite musicians have a tendency to go off the rails every now and then. Whether obsessive, reclusive, ego-maniacal, or just plain weird, the biggest names in the pop occasionally...errr, flip their lid. Sometimes it's just a momentary lapse of reason (looking at you, Mariah Carey and Kanye West), sometimes it's wayyyy too many drugs (love you, James Brown), and other times it's just wayyyy too many yes-men.
James Brown
Kanye West
Courtney Love
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Iggy Pop
Sinead O'Connor
Axl Rose
Jeff Mangum
D'Angelo
Lauryn Hill
Adam Ant
Sly Stone
Roky Erickson
Mariah Carey
Lee Scratch Perry
Ozzy Osbourne
Skip Spence
Jaco Pastorius
Britney Spears
Jim Gordon
Phil Spector
Peter Green
Syd Barrett
Brian Wilson
Michael Jackson
Don't get us wrong, we totally sympathize! It's gotta be weird to have that much adulation, respect, notoriety and cash all at once. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll rarely equals a healthy lifestyle, and when your reality becomes so totally unreal, it must be hard to stay sane. Wyclef Jean said it best when talking about his former bandmate Lauryn Hill, whose erratic behavior has been raising eyebrows for more than a decade. "When you're so successful, if you don't have one person around you that can talk some sense into [you], it's over," he told People. Maybe her three month prison sentence for tax evasion will put her feet back on firm ground.
Her story is more common than you may think. Head to the gallery above to hear 25 tales of rock 'n' roll excess gone awry. Get ready for 25 musicians who have definitely operated outside the realm of "normal."
[Photo: Getty Images]