3 Times Rock Stars Refused To Play Their Biggest Hits (And Why I Totally Get It)

Some rock stars through the years have refused to play their biggest hits live, either for a long stretch of time or permanently. Whether those songs were written about long-over relationships or were just meant to be left in the past, I can definitely see why the following three superstars have opted to retire some of their most memorable songs. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Billy Joel

Billy Joel whips out the megahits at his shows often. The Piano Man knows what his fans love. However, back in the day, there was one song fans didn’t get to hear for years at his live shows. That song is “Just The Way You Are”, released in 1977. That song was a Grammy Award-winning hit that made it all the way to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He plays it nowadays but almost totally removed the song from his live performances between 1986 and the 2000s, following his divorce from the song’s muse, Elizabeth Weber. I definitely get it.

Robert Plant

If you’re a Led Zeppelin fan, you probably know quite well that Robert Plant hasn’t really played the band’s iconic hit “Stairway To Heaven” as a solo artist. Led Zeppelin famously came to an end in 1980, after which Plant went on to kick off his solo career. According to setlist.fm, the only time Plant has ever performed the band’s 1971 hit outside of Led Zeppelin was in 2023 for the Concert Platform From the Cancer Awareness Trust Benefit. Outside of that, Plant hasn’t performed the song on his own. And he never will, either.

“When people say that I don’t like ‘Stairway To Heaven,’ I just don’t like the idea of it,” said Plant back in 2025. “These iconic things – they’re just what they are.”

Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar is known for rockin’ hits like “Heartbreaker”, “Love Is A Battlefield”, and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. She’s aware of her hits, too, and has often jokingly refered to some of those hits as the “holy 14” that fans will rage about if she doesn’t play them. However, Benatar makes it to our list of rock stars who refused to play their biggest hits when it came to “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. In 2022, she retired the song for good in solidarity with shooting victims.

“If you want to hear the song, go home and listen to it,” she famously said.

Whether you agree with her decision or not, I imagine you can understand not wanting your song associated with something terrible.

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