Bands you thought were huge, but actually broke?

[ParaDime77]

Of course a lot of us grew up in the MTV era where the videos with the cars in women made you think that a lot of these bands were living Lifestyles of the Rich and famous. A fair percentage of them were on the verge of financial collapse and working side jobs. Who did you grow up thinking Had it all but they truly did not from a financial sense?

[GreatWhiteSnake]

I was never under the illusion that many of them were massively rich but it is sad how far down the river some of them sold themselves and are now destitute...

[Bono Nettencourt]

After Slide It In and before WS '87 David Coverdale was in debt $3 million to Geffen Records and was doing anonymous New York Seltzer jingles for extra cash.

Kiss went broke in the 80s because they kept spending like it was still the 70s.

[Turner Coates]

Kiss went broke in the 80s because they kept spending like it was still the 70s.

A guy can't have too many pairs of zebra striped loafers and flower print pants.

[Earl Skakel]

After Slide It In and before WS '87 David Coverdale was in debt $3 million to Geffen Records and was doing anonymous New York Seltzer jingles for extra cash.

Kiss went broke in the 80s because they kept spending like it was still the 70s.

It's funny I know a pretty highly actually very highly regarded musician especially by other musicians but they don't move very many albums so they resort to commercial jingles which if national pay very well.

[Traxan]

Any time you see news on Blabbermouth about a musician offering instrument lessons via Skype you know he's in trouble.

[El Vampiro Blanco]

After Slide It In and before WS '87 David Coverdale was in debt $3 million to Geffen Records and was doing anonymous New York Seltzer jingles for extra cash.

Kiss went broke in the 80s because they kept spending like it was still the 70s.

KISS the company was living record advance to record advance (thus releasing an album every year), but Gene and Paul themselves were well off financially.
Even when their oil field tax write-off's from the 70's were deemed illegal by the government, both Gene and Paul were still able to write a million dollar check to pay off the IRS (it did cause Peter and Ace to file for bankruptcy though).

[CrankerBait]

There have been plenty of artists since the beginning of rock who were huge, but ended up broke or deep in debt. Some were just plain financially illiterate. (I don't pretend to know how to operate with millions of dollars, but I know that not paying taxes will come back to bite you in the ass and guess that if you're netting $1 million per month, but spending twice that amount, you're not going to be able to maintain that indefinitely.) Some were too out of it to keep track of it all. Some were blatantly ripped off my managers, agents or supposed financial advisors.

Then, you have the artists who were huge for a while, but maybe didn't get any songwriting royalties, or as a band "member", instead of getting a percentage of record sales (not that those count for much anymore), merchandise and touring, got paid a salary or as a session guy in the studio. Beats the hell out of working at Walmart, but doesn't necessarily translate into three homes, a yacht and a fleet of luxury vehicles.

[mrspeedgene]

KISS in the early 70's. They made it seem they were huge but they were running on fumes before ALIVE! broke. Aucoin's credit card maxed out. Paul's "hole in Bill's shoe story" puts it in perspective.

[El Vampiro Blanco]

KISS in the early 70's. They made it seem they were huge but they were running on fumes before ALIVE! broke. Aucoin's credit card maxed out. Paul's "hole in Bill's shoe story" puts it in perspective.

Even when they were really huge in 76-78, a lot of it was still smoke and mirrors.
Especially a lot of the record sales and 'hit' singles were fake, created by shipping a lot and accepting returns and by payola for the so-called hits.

[Tommy2Tone84]

KISS in the early 70's. They made it seem they were huge but they were running on fumes before ALIVE! broke. Aucoin's credit card maxed out. Paul's "hole in Bill's shoe story" puts it in perspective.

All of that was because as smart as they were, Neil and Bill were dumb as rocks and lacked common sense. While he’s not my favorite producer, Eddie Kramer produced their demo that them signed. Instead of hiring Eddie to produce the first album, Neil cut corners and went on the cheap by hiring his glorified A&R guys to produce their first two records. Which resembled almost nothing of their live show. Had Eddie produced it, the tracking order would have most likely mirrored their live set lists and SHE more than likely would have ended up on the album

Bogart also blew a six figure advance he got from Warners. Instead of puttting that money into his artists, he bought a fleet of Mercedes for himself and suits at Casablanca. He was a moron. That is why they lost their distribution deal with Warners. I can’t even blame cocaine since most of the suits at Warners were probably just as high as Neil was at the time and they managed run a tight ship. Eddie would’ve brought his clout and credibility to that debut album and produced a superior product than what we got. Which wasn’t the band’s fault. It was their two handlers faults.

Bill Aucoin was no Peter Grant or Brian Epstein. Bill should’ve set KISS up with their own record label like Peter did for Zeppelin with Swan Song and negotiated a distribution and promotion deal with a major label like Atlantic or WB.

Kissin Time was a cheap ploy and should’ve been DOA. The fact that Bill made the band go along with that is incredulous

[Tommy2Tone84]

KISS in the early 70's. They made it seem they were huge but they were running on fumes before ALIVE! broke. Aucoin's credit card maxed out. Paul's "hole in Bill's shoe story" puts it in perspective.

Even when they were really huge in 76-78, a lot of it was still smoke and mirrors.
Especially a lot of the record sales and 'hit' singles were fake, created by shipping a lot and accepting returns and by payola for the so-called hits.

That is how the industry worked at the time

What hit singles? They only had two, Beth in 1976 and IWMFLY in 1979. They didn’t have any other hit singles

This was fifteen years before Sound Scan. The labels based sales off units shipped not sold. The labels figured Zeppelin’s and Aerosmith’s “sales” the same way they did KISS’s.

[Cindy Buzzedimisa]

I used to think if you were famous you were set the rest of your life. Even when they'd complain they were struggling financially I'd assume they were rich-people broke not broke broke. Now I see bands selling memorabilia and doing tours when they clearly don't want to because they need the money. They may never have to get a job as a waiter but that still must suck, especially since they've had a taste of the high life.

[Hellsinkey]

When Scott Weiland died, his ex-wife said that he was a million in debt, which was surprising.

[El Vampiro Blanco]

KISS in the early 70's. They made it seem they were huge but they were running on fumes before ALIVE! broke. Aucoin's credit card maxed out. Paul's "hole in Bill's shoe story" puts it in perspective.

Even when they were really huge in 76-78, a lot of it was still smoke and mirrors.
Especially a lot of the record sales and 'hit' singles were fake, created by shipping a lot and accepting returns and by payola for the so-called hits.

That is how the industry worked at the time

What hit singles? They only had two, Beth in 1976 and IWMFLY in 1979. They didn’t have any other hit singles

This was fifteen years before Sound Scan. The labels based sales off units shipped not sold. The labels figured Zeppelin’s and Aerosmith’s “sales” the same way they did KISS’s.

I think Casablanca already considered it a hit single if it broke the top 100 or something.
It's all in that book about Casablanca, which is an interesting read, especially since it seemed Kiss wasn't that important to them at all, they were much more concerned with Donna Summer, Village People and George Clinton it seemed.

[CrankerBait]

When Scott Weiland died, his ex-wife said that he was a million in debt, which was surprising.

Assuming she was telling the truth about that, it is sad; however, I don't find it all that surprising. Most likely, he wasn't much of a financial manager to start with. Two ex-wives and many years of drug addiction probably didn't help things. He wasn't exactly selling a lot of albums, selling lots of tickets or traveling like a top tier rock star at the time of his death.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Even when they were really huge in 76-78, a lot of it was still smoke and mirrors.
Especially a lot of the record sales and 'hit' singles were fake, created by shipping a lot and accepting returns and by payola for the so-called hits.

That is how the industry worked at the time

What hit singles? They only had two, Beth in 1976 and IWMFLY in 1979. They didn’t have any other hit singles

This was fifteen years before Sound Scan. The labels based sales off units shipped not sold. The labels figured Zeppelin’s and Aerosmith’s “sales” the same way they did KISS’s.

I think Casablanca already considered it a hit single if it broke the top 100 or something.
It's all in that book about Casablanca, which is an interesting read, especially since it seemed Kiss wasn't that important to them at all, they were much more concerned with Donna Summer, Village People and George Clinton it seemed.

Yeah they were primarily a disco label. Kiss were an anomaly.

[risingfarce]

After Slide It In and before WS '87 David Coverdale was in debt $3 million to Geffen Records and was doing anonymous New York Seltzer jingles for extra cash.

Kiss went broke in the 80s because they kept spending like it was still the 70s.

KISS didn't go broke, they figured out how to carry on.

KISS Co. was having financial problems, not Paul and Gene.

If you meant Peter and Ace, then you would be correct. Ace declared bankruptcy in 1995. Peter was down to his last $100,000 at that time.

To date, Ace owes the IRS somewhere in the 6 digits. He lost his reunion era house many years ago.

[Ziggy Sawdust]

A lot of bands seem to be begging for change these days with cheap signed editions etc

[ijwthstd]

When Scott Weiland died, his ex-wife said that he was a million in debt, which was surprising.

Assuming she was telling the truth about that, it is sad; however, I don't find it all that surprising. Most likely, he wasn't much of a financial manager to start with. Two ex-wives and many years of drug addiction probably didn't help things. He wasn't exactly selling a lot of albums, selling lots of tickets or traveling like a top tier rock star at the time of his death.

There are probably more people than we know who are legit huge but way in debt and living paycheck to paycheck even if the paychecks are in the millions

[ijwthstd]

When Scott Weiland died, his ex-wife said that he was a million in debt, which was surprising.

Assuming she was telling the truth about that, it is sad; however, I don't find it all that surprising. Most likely, he wasn't much of a financial manager to start with. Two ex-wives and many years of drug addiction probably didn't help things. He wasn't exactly selling a lot of albums, selling lots of tickets or traveling like a top tier rock star at the time of his death.

There are probably more people than we know who are legit huge but way in debt and living paycheck to paycheck even if the paychecks are in the millions

[DonJuanDeMarco]

HIGHWAY 9

I remember walking into the Virgin Megastore in Times Square and they were performing to a pretty large crowd. They had a good Goo Goo Dolls meets Matchbox 20 meets Eagles sound. I just figured they were a new popular band. I bought the record and loved it.

Then a few months later I saw they were performing at Arlene's Grocery a very small bar/club downtown. I don't think they got any bigger than that unfortunately and never put out another record either!

Here's on of my favorites off of the album to get you started....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6KWBh4we6o

[Vince Neil Eats]

When Scott Weiland died, his ex-wife said that he was a million in debt, which was surprising.

Just read an interview with his son. According to him (take it for what it’s worth), Scott’s estate is STILL in debt despite all of the hit singles he helped write. His son is working a regular 9-5 while trying to get his music career off the ground.

[Sleek]

Oh man. When I was a young, I thought that anybody who had a record out or a video on MTV was rich and just living the goddamned life.

First band I ever met and hung out with was Metallica. It was such an eye opener...they were basically poor as shit at the time (RTL tour). I traded a fucked up guitar to James at an in-store for tickets and passes, and he was like: "Wait. YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE ME this guitar for tickets to OUR show??????" and immediately called somebody over to seal the deal. Damned thing wasn't worth $50.

Got to hang out after, and it was just...not glamorous, lol. I always thought backstage would be a huge party, but it was just basically dudes drinking beer long enough that they could stop sweating and get on the bus.

Then of course I later went through the whole thing with Poison where the first year was just pretty much poverty living, even after the first video was on MTV and through the first leg of that Ratt tour. I meannn, aside from DeVille who lived with his parents, nobody in the band even owned a car until after Talk Dirty to Me hit.

[diablomozart]

Oh man. When I was a young, I thought that anybody who had a record out or a video on MTV was rich and just living the goddamned life.

First band I ever met and hung out with was Metallica. It was such an eye opener...they were basically poor as shit at the time (RTL tour). I traded a fucked up guitar to James at an in-store for tickets and passes, and he was like: "Wait. YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE ME this guitar for tickets to OUR show??????" and immediately called somebody over to seal the deal. Damned thing wasn't worth $50.

Got to hang out after, and it was just...not glamorous, lol. I always thought backstage would be a huge party, but it was just basically dudes drinking beer long enough that they could stop sweating and get on the bus.

Then of course I later went through the whole thing with Poison where the first year was just pretty much poverty living, even after the first video was on MTV and through the first leg of that Ratt tour. I meannn, aside from DeVille who lived with his parents, nobody in the band even owned a car until after Talk Dirty to Me hit.

yeah i met metallica on the justice tour and james said they were still "in debt to elektra" at the time...pretty crazy...d.m.

[Tommy2Tone84]

When Scott Weiland died, his ex-wife said that he was a million in debt, which was surprising.

Just read an interview with his son. According to him (take it for what it’s worth), Scott’s estate is STILL in debt despite all of the hit singles he helped write. His son is working a regular 9-5 while trying to get his music career off the ground.

I was shocked to find our that Scott wasn’t much of a writer in the band. The bros wrote the majority of the songs.

That’s very sad. But Scott was an addict and as was mentioned not a good or very responsible financial planner. When you have kids you need to grow up and stop being a f*ck up. Same goes for Jani Lane. That’s one of the only times I’ll compare the two

[McQuade]

Ramones. Despite their legendary status as godfathers of punk rock it was a surprise to find out they were barely surviving financially all those years touring small clubs in a van.

According to his brother, after End of The Century, which was their most succesful album, Joey Ramone only had $5,000 saved in his bank account.

They started to get some better money in the 90’s from music and merchandise licensing. Johnny and Joey were frugal and both invested, but the hired guns like Richie and later CJ were only making like $300-$400 a week.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Yeah Richie quit because he wanted some of the T-shirt money.

[Ozzy Stradlin]

Yeah Richie quit because he wanted some of the T-shirt money.

Which he should have gotten.

Christ - he was writing songs for the band (ie “Somebody Put Something In My Drink”), so he should have been made a full member, but Johnny was, by all accounts, a dick.

[Ryan81]

I'd have to imagine many of the richest rock stars get a lot of their money through good investments in real estate or some other non-musical ventures.

I often wonder how well off a guy like George Lynch is. Like was he ever a millionaire at any point? Same with the guys in Judas Priest.