Creative tension can be a powerful force.
In the high-voltage ecosystem of rock and roll, however, the line between creative sparks and a devastating house fire is razor-thin. And while that 'creative tension' is often the polite euphemism used to describe musical genius, it is frequently the very engine that drives a partnership toward both platinum success... and spectacular self-destruction.
These duos aren't just colleagues; they are high-stakes emotional gamblers whose personal rifts, backstage brawls, and decades-long litigations have fuelled some of the most visceral music ever recorded. From the icy silence of folk icons to the stadium-sized ego clashes of guitar gods, the following stories prove that the most enduring harmonies are often born from a state of total war. Here are thirteen of the most famous rock partnerships that eventually turned – and remained – decidedly sour.
1. Lou Reed & John Cale
The partnership between Lou Reed and John Cale was a collision between a street-smart rock poet and a classically trained avant-garde violist: a 'Two Suns' problem that birthed the most influential underground band in history. It was that very friction that forged the abrasive, drone-heavy masterpiece The Velvet Underground & Nico, but ultimately it was unsustainable.
Reed, seeking total creative control and a more accessible rock direction, eventually forced Cale out of the group in 1968. Though they briefly reconciled for the stark, poignant Andy Warhol tribute Songs for Drella and a 1993 world tour, the old animosities proved indelible. Cale later described the reunion experience as 're-entering a dark room', vowing never to work with the volatile Reed again, ensuring that the avant-garde heart of the Velvets remained a frozen moment in time.
2. David Lee Roth & Eddie Van Halen
The rift between David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen represented the classic struggle between the 'showman' and the 'musician'. Roth was the quintessential vaudevillian, believing that rock and roll was a visual, party-driven spectacle. Conversely, Eddie was a restless innovator who wanted to evolve beyond the 'Diamond Dave' party aesthetic into more complex, synthesizer-driven territories.
Their friction reached a boiling point after the massive success of 1984, when Roth’s desire for a solo movie career clashed with Eddie’s new-found sobriety and musical seriousness. Roth’s departure at the height of their fame remains one of rock’s greatest 'what if' stories. Despite a late-career reunion, the foundational personality clash – vaudeville glitz versus technical virtuosity – remained a permanent fault line in the band’s legacy.
3. Black Francis & Kim Deal
The blueprint for 1990s alternative rock – that ol' 'quiet-loud' dynamic – was built upon the simmering tension at the heart of the Pixies: between Black Francis’s screaming surrealism and Kim Deal’s effortless, melodic cool. However, as Deal’s popularity with fans grew and her songwriting contributions were increasingly sidelined by Francis, the atmosphere turned toxic.
The power struggle famously manifested during a 1989 concert in Stuttgart, where Francis reportedly threw a guitar at Deal during an onstage argument. By 1993, Francis unceremoniously dissolved the band via a fax sent to the other members (one of rock's most out-of-the-blue breakups), cutting off communication entirely. While the duo eventually reunited for lucrative tours in the 2000s, the underlying resentment never truly evaporated, leading to Deal’s final departure in 2013 to focus on the creative freedom of her own band, The Breeders.
4. Richie Sambora & Jon Bon Jovi
For 30 years, Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi were the untouchable kings of the working-class stadium anthem, a partnership where Sambora’s bluesy, virtuoso guitar work provided the essential grit to Jon’s polished, cinematic ambition. They were more than bandmates; they were a songwriting powerhouse that defined the 1980s and 90s.
The partnership turned sour, though, in 2013 when Sambora abruptly failed to show up for a tour date in Calgary, citing personal issues and a need to spend time with his family. That 'no-show' ignited a decade-long cold war, with Jon continuing the band under the Bon Jovi name and Sambora pursuing a quieter life out of the spotlight. What was once a seemingly unbreakable bond of brotherhood became a cautionary tale of how the relentless machinery of stadium rock can eventually grind a partnership to dust.
5. Pete Townshend & Roger Daltrey
They might have a 60-year working relationship at the helm of The Who, but Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry’s clashing personalities have made life difficult for the band. ‘We’re not mates at all,’ Daltrey said as early as 1965, and little appears to have changed since. Their clashing personalities have long been part of the band’s dynamic, with Townshend cast as the introspective songwriter and Daltrey as the alpha frontman.
As Daltrey told Forbes in 2022, ‘Our relationship is a working one, and that’s about as far as it goes. But when we get on stage, there’s a chemistry that’s created… It’s still as wonderful as ever.’ That professional distance was underlined during the making of their 2019 album WHO, which was largely recorded separately, with the two rarely in the same room. Despite having written only one song together – ‘Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere’, the band's second single, released in 1965 – the pair have sustained The Who through mutual musical respect, even if that respect has never quite developed into friendship.
6. Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham
One of the most famous break-ups in all of music, the 1976 breakup of Fleetwood Mac's singer Stevie Nicks and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham was the catalyst for one of the greatest rock albums of all time. While their personal relationship might have been suffering, their music had never been better – the heartbreak fuelling the matchless Rumours, which they began recording just after their break-up.
The break-up wasn’t out of the blue, however. The relationship had been on the downturn before the pair even joined Fleetwood Mac, but they had hung on as the band was making waves – although a musical rivalry was arguably at the heart of their relationship throughout.
‘Stevie had blossomed into something new, something that Lindsey couldn’t control,’ Mick Fleetwood said. ‘When we first met them they spoke as a unit and when they spoke about their musical ideas he spoke for them. After a while she spoke for herself. It was a change that I don’t think Lindsey really liked.’
7. Simon & Garfunkel
Despite their success in the 1960s, the relationship between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel was fractious for many years, ultimately leading to artistic disagreements and their eventual break-up in 1970. This came just after the release of their final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water – one of the world’s best-selling albums. Despite the breakdown of their working relationship, the duo have reunited several times over the last few decades.
When Art Garfunkel was interviewed by The Times in 2024, he admitted that he and Simon had moved past their historic difficulties. ‘I actually had lunch with Paul a couple of weeks back. First time we’d been together in many years. I looked at Paul and said, “What happened? Why haven’t we seen each other?” Paul mentioned an old interview where I said some stuff. I cried when he told me how much I had hurt him. Looking back, I guess I wanted to shake up the nice guy image of Simon & Garfunkel. Y’know what? I was a fool!’
8. Morrissey & Johnny Marr
The Smiths took the music world by storm in the 1980s, but they were only together making music for five years – a relatively short time. The dissolution of the band was predominantly due to the creative differences between the central songwriting duo, Morrissey and Johnny Marr. At their creative peak, Morrissey and Marr were inseparable. Marr described their relationship at this time as being ‘as close as possible without being lovers’, but it didn’t last.
In the years since, there have been reunion rumours, which have become increasingly less likely due to the rift in political opinions between Marr and Morrissey. In 2024, Morrissey claimed that Marr ‘ignored a lucrative offer’ to reform The Smiths for a global tour in 2025.
- The Smiths were one of those great bands that never cracked America
9. Daryl Hall & John Oates
While the break-ups of some rock partnerships take place in the midst of a band’s success, others fade over years. Hall and Oates last performed together in 2022, which marked the end of their working union.
The relationship has deteriorated further since Daryl Hall sued John Oates in 2023 in an initially confidential lawsuit that came into public knowledge. Hall attempted to block Oates from selling their shared publishing rights without consulting him. In August 2025, it was reported that the duo had settled in arbitration and had filed to dismiss the case. Oates has said that he has ‘moved on’, and any hopes of the pair reuniting are unlikely.
10. Glenn Frey & Don Felder
It was frontman Glenn Frey and lead guitarist Don Felder who were at the heart of the Eagles’ hostilities, with difficulties coming to a head in 1980 at a concert for California’s Democratic Senator Alan Cranston in Long Beach, California, where tensions bubbled over.
Felder didn’t approve of the band weighing in on politics, and when Cranston thanked the band for their appearance, Felder sarcastically responded, ‘You’re welcome, Senator… I guess.’ Frey was livid and made his opinions known. When the band were on stage, the disagreements were made public. ‘We’re onstage, and Felder looks back at me and says, “Only three more songs till I kick your ass, pal.”
'And I’m saying, “Great. I can’t wait,”’ Frey recalled. ‘We’re out there singing “Best of My Love”, but inside both of us are thinking, “As soon as this is over, I’m gonna kill him.”’ The band broke up almost immediately after the concert.
They reformed in 1994, with a new album, the aptly named Hell Freezes Over – but significant internal conflicts continued. Felder was eventually fired from Eagles in 2011 over a financial dispute. He went on to file lawsuits against his former bandmates, alleging wrongful termination.
11. Lennon & McCartney
Arguably the most famous songwriting partnership of all time, Lennon-McCartney had a musical chemistry like very few others. Unlike many other legendary songwriting partnerships, John Lennon and Paul McCartney shared responsibility over music and lyrics – perhaps with a friendly rivalry between the two. Having first met in 1957 when John was 16 and Paul was 15, the pair had a powerful friendship – but this was tested as the success of the Beatles evolved.
Their relationship became more fractious throughout the 1960s, exacerbated by new relationships – Linda Eastman and Yoko Ono – and Lennon’s increased drug use. Lennon left the Beatles in September 1969.
12. Axl Rose & Slash
The relationship between frontman and lead guitarist is often volatile – and Axl Rose and Slash’s difficulties are no different. Between them, they have had disputes about Rose’s flagrant use of racist language, Slash’s drug use and creative differences between the two. Slash left the band in 1996, but rejoined in 2016, reuniting with Axl Rose and Duff McKagan, suggesting that the past feud has been resolved.
13. Roger Waters & David Gilmour
The story of Roger Waters and David Gilmour is one set over several eras, concerned with a variety of different issues. In the late 1970s, there was a battle of creative control between the pair in the band, as Waters tried to take control of the band’s musical direction.
Waters left the band in 1985, but Pink Floyd continued to make music. He sued David Gilmour and Nick Mason at this time, to prevent them from using the name ‘Pink Floyd’ after he left the band. He lost the case, later admitting it was a mistake to pursue it.
The feud between the two has been exacerbated in recent years, driven by political disagreements over Russia, Ukraine and Israel. In 2024, Gilmour said he will ‘absolutely not’ perform with Waters again, citing Waters’ political views as the reason for this.
All images: Getty Images
