Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/9-bands-whose-breakthrough-single-almost-broke-up-the-group/
A hit song sounds like the best thing that can happen to a band. In practice, the pressure, the touring and the money can strain a group more than years of empty clubs ever did.
The nine stories below don’t all follow the same pattern. In some, the song nearly ended the band. In others, a near split came first and the song changed the outcome, or the group fell apart soon after. Each one is told with only what the sources support.
Radiohead and Creep
Radiohead treated their debut single as a warm up. They were focused on two other songs they had higher hopes for, and “Creep” was a rehearsal piece, recorded without the band realizing the tapes were rolling. It later became a cultural phenomenon, and it has earned over a billion streams on Spotify.
The success was the problem. The intensity of the touring that followed, plus the fear of being remembered for one song, hit the band hard. Thom Yorke said in 1995 that they were forced to tour behind it and were close to breaking up. Once the band had moved on to critical acclaim and further hits, “Creep” gradually dropped off their setlists.
Queen and Killer Queen
Queen’s early days were rough. After a disastrous tour supporting Mott the Hoople, during which Brian May contracted hepatitis and nearly lost his arm to gangrene, the band seriously considered calling it quits.
The single changed that. The October 1974…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-11-12 10:52:00
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