They Hated It at First: 3 Classic Rock Bands’ Least Favorite Song That Became Their Biggest Hit

Most classic rock bands tend to love their biggest hit. Why wouldn’t they? Being a musician is hard enough. Having at least one big song to capitalize on can make or break a career. However, when it comes to the following three classic rock bands, they actually hated their biggest hit, either after its success or before it was even recorded.

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“Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin (1971)

Robert Plant hates this song. He went as far as to admit that he would “break out in hives” if he had to perform the track at every concert. When a radio station in Oregon said they would never play the song, Plant even donated to them. That’s the kind of hate that can only come from a creative who is sick of their creation. Still, even today, “Stairway To Heaven” is considered one of the greatest progressive rock songs in history. Despite not being originally released as a single, the song has stood out from the rest of Led Zeppelin IV in a major way, and remains one of the most-requested radio hits of all time.

“Creep” by Radiohead (1992)

After the alt-rock ode to not fitting in, “Creep”, became a megahit for Radiohead in the early 1990s, the band got sick of it pretty quickly. However, some members of the band didn’t like the song from the start, either. Guitarist Jonny Greenwood reportedly thought the song was too quiet. That iconic three-strum distorted guitar that kicks in before the chorus? That’s Greenwood intentionally trying to sabotage the song, but he actually made it even better. “Creep” ended up being a Top 40 hit on the Hot 100 and did even better on numerous other charts. Oh well!

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana (1991)

After the massive popularity of grunge band Nirvana’s pop hit, Kurt Cobain got incredibly sick of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. To many Gen Xers, it’s the anthem of their generation. But back in the day, Cobain thought it was a commercialized burden that overshadowed the harder, more poignant work in the band’s discography. It was clear from the start that Cobain wrote it to be a pop song and didn’t necessarily have much respect for it. When he presented the demo to his bandmates, he called his own riff “clichéd,” and bassist Krist Novoselic called it “ridiculous.” The song would become the band’s signature track after its release and peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100 chart.

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