11 bandmates who hate each other, from Pink Floyd to the Gallagher brothers

You don’t have to be friends with the people you make music with – but it helps not to be enemies.

The annals of music history are filled with instances of bandmates whose relationships turned sour, from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel to Morrissey and Johnny Marr.

In one of modern music’s bitterest feuds, former Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and David Gilmour have spent years exchanging vitriolic words in the press. This week, Polly Samson, ex-Pink Floyd lyricist and wife of David Gilmour, made unsubstantiated allegations against Waters online.

Waters wrote on a social media account that he was “aware of the incendiary and wildly inaccurate comments made about him on Twitter by Polly Samson which he refutes entirely”, and said he is “currently taking advice as to his position”.

Of course, plenty of great music has been made by people who were at personal loggerheads – just ask Fleetwood Mac.

Sometimes, bandmates even manage to overcome their differences. The Libertines and Guns ‘N’ Roses are just two of the outfits to have buried the hatchet and reformed in high spirits.

But they’re not who we’re interested in here. This is a list of the most ill-tempered feuds between bandmates in the history of modern music.

See below for the full list…

The Beach Boys

Cousins Mike Love and Brian Wilson, once bandmates in The Beach Boys, have feuded for decades. Wilson has publicly mocked Love’s singing, and described him as “egotistical”; Love, meanwhile, successfully sued the band for songwriting credits on many of the group’s hits.

The Everly Brothers

Known for their mellifluous two-part harmonies, Don and Phil Everly enjoyed an off-stage relationship that was anything but harmonious. The vehement sibling animosity spilled out onto stage during an infamous 1973 gig which resulted in Phil smashing his guitar and storming off.

The Kinks

Brothers Ray and Dave Davies have enjoyed one of music’s most celebrated sibling collaborations – and one of its most vicious quarrels. Speaking of their feud, Dave once told an interviewer: “You’ve heard of vampires. Well, Ray sucks me dry of ideas, emotions and creativity. He’s a control freak.” The band split up in 1996, though the brothers have shown signs of reconciliation in the years since.

Kiss

Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, two of the original members of Kiss, have long been at loggerheads with Gene Simmons’s rock group after first leaving the group in the early 1980s. Simmons and Paul Stanley have spoken negatively of their former bandmates, with Stanley alleging in his 2014 biography that they were antisemitic – claims Frehley subsequently denied.

Journey

Vocalist Steve Perry left the “Don’t Stop Believin’” rock outfit in 1998, claiming later that he had “never really felt part of the band. The group replaced him with soundalike Steve Augeri. Disagreements have continued to surface within Journey, however, with reports suggesting that guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain have quarreled over the musical direction of the band in recent years.

Oasis

The falling out of Liam and Noel Gallagher remains one of pop music’s highest-profile feuds. After the much-loved Britpop band split up in 2009, the Mancunian brothers became estranged, sharing semi-frequent barbs at each other in the press and on social media. Despite this, fans have never given up hope for an unlikely reunion – and it seems more likely now than ever.

One Direction

Ever since Zayne Malik left Once Direction in 2015, fans speculated over the exact nature of the singer’s relationship with his bandmates. Appearing on YouTuber Logan Paul’s podcast last year, Liam Payne appeared to pour oil on rumours of a feud, claiming that there were “many reasons why I dislike Zayne”. He later apologised, but the shot was already fired.

Pink Floyd

The statement from Polly Samson is just the latest in a long string of disparaging remarks shared between Pink Floyd’s former collaborators. After Waters quit the group in 1985, he unsuccessfully vied to get the band to cease operating under the Pink Floyd name – beginning a cycle of animosity that would last for four decades, and that would endure despite multiple reunions.

Simon and Garfunkel

A double act for the ages, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel helped define the sound of the 1960s with a run of sweet-sounding folk-rock hits. After Simon separated in 1970 to pursue a (rather illustrious) solo career, the feuding pair did reform several times, including for a famous 1981 concert in Central Park. It wasn’t all bridges over troubled water, however – their most recent reunion, in 2010, was marred by animosity, as Simon accused Garfunkel of neglecting to inform him of vocal issues.

The Smiths

Between Johnny Marr’s transcendent guitar-playing and Morrissey’s maudlin crooning, The Smiths were always something of an eclectic mix. Since the band’s break-up in 1987, however, Morrissey and Marr have only grown further apart, and have continued to trade angry words in the press. Don’t bet on a BST reunion gig any time soon.

Yes

When Yes singer Jon Anderson suffered health issues in 2008, the prog rock band recruited tribute singer Benoit David to keep the tour going. In retaliation, Anderson started a new group with two other ex-Yes bandmates – Trevor Rabin and Rick Wakeman. At one point, two versions of the band were touring at once, with one being rather cumbersomely named Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman.