3 Classic Rock Feuds and Beefs That Outlived the Bands Themselves

Classic rock stars get involved in feuds all the time. It’s basically part of the gig. If you’ve even been in a band, you know that tensions can get pretty intense when creative directions are tugged back and forth. But when it comes to the following three beefs, the artists involved continued to have a sour relationship long after their bands came to an end.

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Don Henley and Glenn Frey

The original run of the rock band Eagles’ career lasted from 1971 through 1980. Don Henley and Glenn Frey were founding members of the outfit. And even minor fans of the band know that it didn’t end well. Though, those two weren’t the only members involved in the feud. The whole of the band was sick of each other, with Grey and Don Felder famously bickering on stage at their final concert in 1980. Still, Henley and Frey continued to feud for years after the band broke up. They were the core creatives of the band and often clashed, and that clash continued into their reunion era. And in the end, the two remained mostly distant until Grey passed in 2016.

Lou Reed and John Cale

The Velvet Underground, though incredibly legendary in the history of rock and punk rock, specifically, only lasted from 1965 to 1973. That’s not an enormous amount of time. What lasted longer, though, was the multi-decade beef between members Lou Reed and John Cale.

After the two went in different directions following The Velvet Underground’s dissolution, animosity between them lingered. In 1968, tensions between the two came to a head, and Reed ultimately told the other members that unless Cale was fired, he would quit the band. Cale left, and the two would continue to have animosity towards each other well into the 1990s, even though the pair performed together at the start of the decade. That’s what happens when strong personalities come together in a band and end it on bad terms.

Roger Waters and David Gilmour

Well, there was no avoiding this one. The original lineup of Pink Floyd took place between 1965 and 1985, yielding some of the band’s absolute best work. That era came to an end when Roger Waters, one of the creative masterminds of the band, opted to leave. And when he left, David Gilmour wanted to carry on with the band’s name. In this example of famous classic rock feuds, Waters opted to launch a legal battle with Gilmour, stating that he couldn’t record or tour under the name “Pink Floyd.”

The two did occasionally kick off very brief reunion tours, but they remain distant to this day. And in the years since Waters left the band, the two continued to occasionally sling mud at each other.

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