Rolling Stone has compiled a list of the "50 Worst Decisions in Music History" and The Rolling Stones top it with what turned out to be a deadly decision.
In 1969, they hired the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang to provide security at their free concert at Altamont Speedway in California, which resulted in them killing concert-goer Meredith Hunter.
The rest of the Top 10 is:
- 2) Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 13-year old cousin Myra in 1958
- 3) Decca Records not signing The Beatles in 1962
- 4) Eric Clapton supporting COVID vaccine conspiracies in 2020
- 5) Woodstock '99, which was marred by sexual abuse and rioting
- 6) Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift in 2009 as she delivered her acceptance speech for Best Female Video for “You Belong to Me” at the MTV Video Music Awards
- 7) Blood, Sweat & Tears doing a tour in 1970 sponsored by the U.S. during the height of the Vietnam War
- 8) Rapper Ja Rule investing in the in the fraudulent Fyre Festival in the Bahamas
- 9) U2 giving away their 2014 album Songs of Innocence for free on iTunes
- 10) Billy Squier tanking his career with his prancing around in a pink tank top in a pastel bedroom in the video for "Rock Me Tonite"
Other "Worst Decisions" include:
- 11) Steve Van Zandt quitting the E Street Band in 1984
- 12) CCR's Stu Cook and Doug Clifford wanting to write and sing songs on what became the band's final album, 1972's Mardi Gras
- 14) John Lennon saying in 1966 that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ
- 16) Metallica taking on Napster in 2000
- 17) Peter Frampton starring in the Sgt,. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie
- 18) David Bowie telling Playboy in 1976 that he believe strongly in fascism, adding that “Adolf Hitler was one of the first rock stars.”
- 28) Van Halen hiring Extreme's Gary Cherone in 1998 to replace Sammy Hagar
- 36) David Geffen suing Neil Young in 1993 for not sounding like Neil Young on the albums he recorded for Geffen Records
- 38) Roger Waters quitting Pink Floyd in 1985
- 46) Bob Dylan releasing his Self Portrait album in 1970
- 50) Elton John going disco with his 1979 album, Victim of Love