7 Legendary Musicians Who Hated Their Biggest Hits

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7 Legendary Musicians Who Hated Their Biggest Hits

Metro-Goldwin-Meyer - Library of Congress [Public domain] / Columbia Pictures [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

You make a hit song, it charts all around the world, and you collect your royalty check for the rest of your life. Sounds easy right?

Well just imagine if that song followed you around in the supermarket for the rest of your life, or if you couldn't go to the bank without somebody asking you to sing it. Pretty soon you'd get sick of that song's very name, and that's just what happened to these 7 artist.

It turns out that if you absolutely loved one of these classic songs, you were helping to drive you favorite musician bonkers!

1. Bob Geldof - "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "We Are The World"

The Live Aid organizer and record producer has done a lot of good for the world with his record-breaking charity singles, but don't imagine he has any fondness for "We Are The World" or "Do They Know It's Christmas."

We can't blame him - imagine having those songs stuck in your head forever. He says Christmas season, when his songs are on repeat, is the absolute worst.

2. Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven"

You probably danced to this iconic rock ballad at your prom (or your wedding) so it can be heartbreaking to find out that the band's lead singer Robert Plant hates it with a passion.

While the band still plays it on special occasions, Plant says he would "break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show," and that was how he felt back in 1988. Imagine how worn out he feels now!

3. John Lennon - The Beatles' entire discography

The legendary singer-songwriter didn't mince words when he admitted he's "dissatisfied with every record the Beatles ever [..] made." But Lennon had some especially harsh criticism saved for "When I'm 64" from Sgt. Pepper's.

That one was "Paul's completely," according to John. "I would never dream of writing a song like that." He even calls "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" "abysmal [...] just terrible." Tell us how you really feel John!

He isn't the only legend who hates his classics though.

4. The Who - "Pinball Wizard"

This classic single plays at least once an hour on every rock station in the county, but it was an afterthought for the Who and the band came to hate its runaway success.

Their album Tommy was already being previewed when they threw the song together to make the record flow better. Guitarist Pete Townshend says "Pinball Wizard" was "the most clumsy piece of writing" he ever did, but fans still love it.

5. Tina Turner - "What's Love Got to Do with It?"

You might think that "Let's Stay Together" would be Turner's most successful song, but this funky R&B hit from 1984 actually takes the top spot. More than a million copies of the record sold in the US alone, but Turner had to be talked into releasing the song by her manager Roger Davies. Later, the movie about Turner's life would be named What's Love Got to Do with It.

6. Elvis Presley - "Burning Love"

When this bombastic rock song was released in 1973, Elvis and Priscilla were splitting up, and the King felt more like singing sad ballads. He also resented "Burning Love" because the lyrics were silly and meaningless.

To avoid playing it whenever he could, he would insist he needed "sheet music" to play it live - in fact, Elvis has photographic memory when it comes to music.

7. Frank Sinatra - Every one of his hits

You'd have a hard time naming any of Sinatra's biggest songs that he enjoyed singing. The crooner said "My Way" was self-indulgent, "New York, New York" was a pain in his...behind, and he called "Strangers in the Night" "the worst [...] song I have ever heard."

Once, during a live concert, the audience could actually see Ol' Blue Eyes mouthing "I hate that song" as the music for "Strangers" was ending.

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