SeventeenDayze said:

MotownSubdivision said:

I don't know how it was internationally but MJ being a tabloid star seemed more of an American thing. Overall, MJ is a curious one when it comes to this subject. He did experience a fall from grace and the accusations seriously damaged his career however despite being the media's favorite target, he still was quite successful. After the first accusation in 1993, his accomplishments were: -HIStory sold 20 million+ copies and though I do not know how much it actually sold at the time, it was enough to become the highest selling double album in history (no pun intended), a record it still holds over 19 years later and likely will keep. -Scream would go on to become another critically acclaimed work of his as well as serve as the inspiration for many a music video years later -The tour in the album's name went on to gross over $40 million albeit overseas -Blood on the Dancefloor sold enough to become the highest selling remix album of all time, once again a record that the album still holds today -Invincible while not the massive seller like his previous albums, was only a commercial failure because it wasn't as big of a commercial success as it could've been, still selling 13 million (once again, I don't know the sales of the time) -Sold out 5 shows in Madison Square Garden for the 30th Anniversary Special, the first show he would have in the US since the Bad Tour back in the late 80s Then after the second accusation in 2005, he sold out the O2 for This Is It in a matter of minutes. MJ was still very loved even after all the crap that was thrown his way of course not to the near universal levels of the 1980s up to the first allegation but his fans were much more plentiful than his haters. For that, I wouldn't say MJ experienced that great a fall from grace. It's amazing how successful he still was even after being accused of being a pedophile twice and all the other ridiculous things he portrayed in the public eye.

Well said. I still think they were after him because he owned all those publishing rights to so many huge (white) artists and a few black like Little Richard, whom he apparently sold back to Little Richard for $1.00. I think that alone with other exhibits of power MJ had behind the scenes made him a target for a lot of haters, bar none.

I agree. I also don't like how people insinuate that Michael only cared about sells after Thriller. Yes he did care about sells and did try to top Thriller. HOWEVER, he also cared about pushing himself artistically and taking musically risks. I think it is downright absurd to imply he did not grow as an artist after Thriller. Some of his best works are post BAD material.

thesoulbrother said:

As of right now, it's gotta be Robin Thicke. This time last year this cat had the number one song in the world! His new album has sold less than 25,000 copies! WTF?

I agree. I don't think his latest album was promoted properly and I think it wasn't meant to be a huge commercial success.

mjscarousal said:

SeventeenDayze said:

Well said. I still think they were after him because he owned all those publishing rights to so many huge (white) artists and a few black like Little Richard, whom he apparently sold back to Little Richard for $1.00. I think that alone with other exhibits of power MJ had behind the scenes made him a target for a lot of haters, bar none.

I agree. I also don't like how people insinuate that Michael only cared about sells after Thriller. Yes he did care about sells and did try to top Thriller. HOWEVER, he also cared about pushing himself artistically and taking musically risks. I think it is downright absurd to imply he did not grow as an artist after Thriller. Some of his best works are post BAD material.

Absolutely. I think people say that kind of stuff to act like they knew what was going through his mind. He was a perfectionist so I'm sure on some level he wanted to top Thriller but I seriously doubt that's all that he cared about. I also agree that some of his best work was after Bad as well. History and Dangerous were both fantastic albums. I mean, did anything else from Bad or Thriller sound like Remember the Time? Not at all. So, for people who insist that MJ never took risks, they must have forgotten that Dirty Diana sounded nothing like Off the Wall or Burn this Disco Out. It's safe to say that MJ probably would not have made a masterpiece like Anotherloverholeinyohead but he had his own genius on stage and off stage to have his place as the King of Pop, undisputed and forever.

iaminparties said:

All the hair metal bands before grunge hit it big.

Since Def Leppard was probably the biggest selling of these, especially the Hysteria LP, then it would be them. But this is pretty much the same situation as the disco era groups, except without people rioting at a baseball game and blowing up records. After disco, soft rock and adult contemporary like Air Supply took over the Top 40. Not hair metal, but Loverboy fell off fast after being a multi-platinum selling group. Styx & Queen lost popularity kinda quick too.

MickyDolenz said:

Singles wise, Ringo Starr initially was the most popular Beatle after they broke up. A few years later, the hits stopped and his label dropped him. But he started making a comeback in the 1980s playing Mr. Conductor. He later became sober and started the All Starr Tours.

.

The Bee Gees and KC & The Sunshine Band couldn't get a hit in the US after disco "died".

Well, at least Donna Summer held the queen of disco title, before it "died".

Beautifulstarr123 said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

Well, at least Donna Summer held the queen of disco title, before it "died".

Donna Summer, ahhhh... so underrated.

You think so? Why?

Beautifulstarr123 said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

TonyVanDam said:

I don't think anyone had it worse than Milli Vanilli (Rob & Fab) OR Billy Squirer.

One of them committed suicide, right? I think it was Rob.

It was Rob.

Donna Summer famously killed her career in the 80s when some comments were attributed to her about homosexuality being a sin and that AIDS was God's punishment to them. Didn't quite grasp that they made up a huge portion of her audience. It took her a long time to get back on top but I never found out whether she did say it or not.

In a similar way, lots of odd quotes have also been attached to Lauryn Hill, but she killed her career all by herself regardless.

[Edited 8/31/14 14:52pm]

TonyVanDam said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

One of them committed suicide, right? I think it was Rob.

It was Rob.

Yeah, that was sad

MotownSubdivision said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

You think so? Why?

Compared to most legends and icons, specifically kings and queens in music, Donna is a bit of an unsung artist. I think this is in most part due to her being the Queen of Disco, the defining artist of a genre that while extremely popular and infectious, was unreasonably hated and it seems that that hatred still exists to a certain extent today. Disco as it is remembered also doesn't exist today unlike say rock which is pretty much as dead as disco in the mainstream is still very well known and active since rock bands are still very much alive. Disco singers and groups have ceased to exist since the early 80s and has become more of a memory as has Donna unfortunately.

Yeah, I remembered the disco sucks stigma all so well.

MotownSubdivision said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

Well, at least Donna Summer held the queen of disco title, before it "died".

Donna Summer, ahhhh... so underrated.

Very underrated for sure!

Ellie said:

Donna Summer famously killed her career in the 80s when some comments were attributed to her about homosexuality being a sin and that AIDS was God's punishment to them. Didn't quite grasp that they made up a huge portion of her audience. It took her a long time to get back on top but I never found out whether she did say it or not.

In a similar way, lots of odd quotes have also been attached to Lauryn Hill, but she killed her career all by herself regardless.

[Edited 8/31/14 14:52pm]

Lauryn Hill is a good one to add to this list. It seemed like she was on top of the world and then all of a sudden she just fell off. I have been known on the Org to blame this demise on her relationship with that Marley dude but only Lauryn really knows what happens. But, to me it seemed that she was way more emotionally invested into him than vice versa which is always a recipe for disaster for women who are desperate and eager to be in a relationship with a particular dude. I was/am a fan of hers but her erratic behavior is more than I care to deal with as a fan. I tend to prefer off-beat artists but Lauryn can really test anyone's patience, no matter how weird she is, she really needs to get it together and put out the good quality work that we all know that she probably still has left in her at this point.

Quite clearly the Bee Gees

Afrer what was already a quite successful career, in 1978 they had the most successful year of any artist ever. Of the top 100 songs for the year, the Bee Gees (either as themselves, or writing for others) had the #1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 14, 19, 45

Two years later they couldn't get played anywhere and in 2 decades of trying that barely ever changed. One top 10 hit with One.

The crazy thing is not only did they have some superb music post 1979, pretty much everyhting they touched for other artists still was widely successful.

The biggest worldwide hit of their career, You Win Again, couldnt' get airplay in the US. From the first note the first time I heard it I knew they nailed it with that song.

Ellie said:

Donna Summer famously killed her career in the 80s when some comments were attributed to her about homosexuality being a sin and that AIDS was God's punishment to them.

Didn't she deny saying this?

alandail said:

Quite clearly the Bee Gees

Afrer what was already a quite successful career, in 1978 they had the most successful year of any artist ever. Of the top 100 songs for the year, the Bee Gees (either as themselves, or writing for others) had the #1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 14, 19, 45

Two years later they couldn't get played anywhere and in 2 decades of trying that barely ever changed. One top 10 hit with One.

The crazy thing is not only did they have some superb music post 1979, pretty much everyhting they touched for other artists still was widely successful.

The biggest worldwide hit of their career, You Win Again, couldnt' get airplay in the US. From the first note the first time I heard it I knew they nailed it with that song.

I guess sometimes it wouldn't hurt to take into consideration how some of these acts have huge combacks as I remember in the 90s that the Bee Gees were relevant and had (and still have) an impact on music to this day. There'd be no techno, dub step or anything without disco music, so in that regard, their legacy is legit as far as I'm concerned.

MickyDolenz said:

Ellie said:

Donna Summer famously killed her career in the 80s when some comments were attributed to her about homosexuality being a sin and that AIDS was God's punishment to them.

Didn't she deny saying this?

You know what they say, a lie makes it around the world before the truth gets its boots on (or something to that effect).

Jerry Lee Lewis popularity declined when he married his cousin.

MotownSubdivision said:

Didn't Hall and Oates experience a fall from grace of some sort?

Their popularity declined gradually, like most acts. It wasn't a sudden thing like the Bee Gees. They were on Arista in the late 1980s - early 1990s, and I think they might have had some problems with Clive Davis.

MickyDolenz said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Didn't Hall and Oates experience a fall from grace of some sort?

Their popularity declined gradually, like most acts. It wasn't a sudden thing like the Bee Gees. They were on Arista in the late 1980s - early 1990s, and I think they might have had some problems with Clive Davis.

Is Clive Davis the devil or something? I have never heard anything good about this dude, EVER! LOL

MickyDolenz said:

Ellie said:

Donna Summer famously killed her career in the 80s when some comments were attributed to her about homosexuality being a sin and that AIDS was God's punishment to them.

Didn't she deny saying this?

Yes,she denied making those comments.Unfortunately,this rumor really hurt her career in the 80s.

MickyDolenz said:

Jerry Lee Lewis popularity declined when he married his cousin.

I was just thinking about him the other day.

Ellie said:

Donna Summer famously killed her career in the 80s when some comments were attributed to her about homosexuality being a sin and that AIDS was God's punishment to them. Didn't quite grasp that they made up a huge portion of her audience. It took her a long time to get back on top but I never found out whether she did say it or not.

Donna never made the comment about AIDS being "divine punishment" to homosexuals for living that lifestyle.During a June 20 1983 concert,she did make one comment that was offensive to her gay fans in the audience:

"Remember,it's Adam and Eve,not Adam and Steve....but I love you anyway"

It was inappropriate,yes,but it's not as bad as the other comments that were (wrongly) attributed to her.But after that concert,things went downhill for her.Her next album Cats Without Claws was her first 'flop' record.It didn't even reach gold status.

Who can forget Whitney Houston.

3000 said:

Rock music

MotownSubdivision said:

3000 said:

Rock music

And mainstream music!

Yeah I mean is rock music still alive or has it been kind of divided out between country and other genres of music? It's hard to tell which groups are just genuine rock bands or not because of the influence of pop music in just about every subgenre out there. It gets to be confusing sometimes!

SeventeenDayze said:

MickyDolenz said:

Their popularity declined gradually, like most acts. It wasn't a sudden thing like the Bee Gees. They were on Arista in the late 1980s - early 1990s, and I think they might have had some problems with Clive Davis.

Is Clive Davis the devil or something? I have never heard anything good about this dude, EVER! LOL

Clive "Silverballs" Davis is definitely a slick old devil. The stories about his fallouts with Phyllis Hyman, TLC, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys and even Prince are legendary. And don't even get me started on how he benefited from the deads of The Notorious B.I.G. & Whitney Houston.