Buzz
For an artist, success can be both a blessing and a curse. While it brings rewards like fame, money, and recognition, it can also trap you in a box, forcing you to stick to a specific formula. Your audience expects you to replicate your past triumphs, never straying from the path.
As a painter, you're often expected to maintain the same style across your entire body of work. A singer may find themselves tied to their most popular hit, performing it over and over. After years or decades of this, it’s easy to start resenting your own creation.
10. Radiohead - 'Creep'
To put it into perspective, 'Creep' was Radiohead's debut single, the song that propelled them to fame and recognition. VH1 even ranked it as the 31st best song of the '90s. However, despite its success, the band—particularly frontman Thom Yorke—has expressed a lack of fondness for the track.
At first, 'Creep' wasn’t a big hit in the UK. However, it gained popularity in countries like Israel, Spain, and New Zealand, prompting the band to tour these areas to promote the song more aggressively. Eventually, 'Creep' took off in the United States and was re-released in the UK, where it found a much more enthusiastic reception. Despite this success, the band soon became associated with that one song, much to the frustration of Yorke, who was often seen as the person described in its lyrics.
As time went on, the band's frustration with being recognized solely for 'Creep' turned into outright disdain. They regularly refused requests to play the song live. During one concert in Montreal, Yorke famously shouted, 'f–ck off, we’re tired of it' when fans demanded it. He also insulted the song's fans, calling them 'anally retarded,' whatever that means. At Glastonbury in 2003, rumors swirled that they were looking for someone else to perform 'Creep' for them. The rumors were true: 'Creep' was indeed used to close their set, but sung by Moby.
9. Woody Allen's 'Manhattan'
'Manhattan' is a 1979 romantic comedy written, directed by, and starring Woody Allen. The film stands out for its striking black-and-white photography and widescreen format, along with its poignant story and remarkable soundtrack. Upon release, it was a huge success with both critics and audiences, becoming Woody Allen's second-highest-grossing film, adjusted for inflation. Many critics consider it his best work. However, Allen himself does not share this view.
To be fair, Allen has always been his harshest critic. He doesn’t believe he’s ever made a truly great film. Even his celebrated works like 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan' are, to him, simply decent films that won’t stand the test of time. He has a particular issue with 'Manhattan.' When the film was completed, he was so dissatisfied that he begged United Artists not to release it. He even offered to make another movie for free just to prevent 'Manhattan' from coming out.
8. Bruce Springsteen's 'Born To Run'
There are numerous cases of artists who end up disliking their most famous songs, but Bruce Springsteen took it even further—he despised his entire 'Born to Run' album. This is the same album that sold over six million copies in the United States alone, earned the title of 'magnificent' by Rolling Stone, and was later ranked as the 18th greatest album of all time.
Expectations for this third album were sky-high. Springsteen's first two albums had positioned him as the next big thing (he was even compared to Bob Dylan), but he still hadn’t achieved massive commercial success. 'Born to Run' was considered a make-or-break moment for his career. As a result, Springsteen was determined to create 'the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made,' and he dedicated much time to perfecting it. He spent most of 1974 working on the album, and it took him six months just to finish the main single, 'Born to Run.' According to the band, all the other tracks required similarly epic recording sessions.
Finally, the album was completed, but Springsteen was so dissatisfied with the result that he couldn’t bear to listen to it. He described it as the 'worst piece of garbage' he’d ever heard. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t want to release it, but was eventually persuaded by producer Jon Landau to go ahead and put it out.
7. Michelangelo's 'Pieta'
We're not referring to the well-known Pieta where Mary Magdalene holds Christ after the crucifixion. Rather, we’re discussing another of Michelangelo's works, often called the Florentine Pieta or The Deposition. In this sculpture, the lifeless body of Christ is cradled by Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, and a figure in a hood, sometimes thought to be either Joseph of Arimathea, St. Nicodemus, or even Michelangelo himself. This particular statue is also distinguished by Jesus being depicted with only one leg. This wasn’t a deliberate artistic choice; instead, it’s because Michelangelo ceased working on it before completion.
A certain air of mystery surrounds this statue because the exact reason for Michelangelo's abrupt change of heart remains unclear. Initially, it was meant to crown his tomb. The artist, aged 72 at the time, spent eight years laboring on the Pieta. But then, unexpectedly, Michelangelo grew disillusioned with it, and in a fit of frustration, he began to destroy it with a chisel. According to Vasari, an art historian and a contemporary of Michelangelo, the artist was never fully pleased with his later works, possibly blaming the poor quality of the marble as a contributing factor.
Though Michelangelo originally intended to discard the statue, he was eventually convinced to sell it to Francesco Bandini, along with its shattered pieces. Michelangelo also permitted another sculptor, Tiberio Calcagni, to take over and restore the work. While Calcagni managed to repair much of the damage, he passed away before completing the task, leaving the Pieta in its current unfinished state.
6. Stanislaw Lem's The Astronauts
Stanislaw Lem is now celebrated not only as one of the greatest writers Poland has ever known, but also as one of the foremost sci-fi authors in the world. With a writing career spanning over fifty years, Lem penned books that sold millions of copies worldwide and were translated into numerous languages. His journey as a renowned writer began with The Astronauts.
Lem’s debut novel, The Astronauts, was published in 1951 and quickly became a hit. It marked the pivotal moment in Lem's life that led him to pursue a career in science fiction writing. The book already contained many of the themes that would later become staples of his work—interstellar travel, communication challenges with extraterrestrial civilizations, and more. However, The Astronauts also introduced something Lem was not fond of: a vision of a communist utopia. The narrative includes numerous pro-communist references, aimed at a young audience, which Lem felt compelled to include in order to navigate the censorship of the Communist regime.
In the years following Stalin's death, Poland underwent de-Stalinization, and censorship laws gradually eased. During this period, Lem became an incredibly productive writer, releasing more than a dozen books. Despite his success, he distanced himself from his earlier works, attempting to limit their reprints. When it came to The Astronauts, Lem admitted to feeling “a bit disgusted by this book.”
5. Gerhard Richter’s Photo-Based Paintings
In 2012, Gerhard Richter set a new record for the highest auction price ever achieved by a living artist, when his painting Abstraktes Bild sold for a staggering $34 million. Just one year later, this record was surpassed by a Richter painting that fetched $37.1 million. In short, Gerhard Richter is undeniably one of the most successful and celebrated artists of our time.
Richter is also known for being highly critical of his own work. In the past, he would not hesitate to destroy his own paintings—finished pieces, not just sketches, even those that had been publicly exhibited—if he felt they didn’t meet his standards. A versatile artist, Richter worked across various mediums: painting, photography, drawing, and even designed a stained glass window installed at Cologne Cathedral. One of his distinctive methods, popular in the '60s and '70s, involved creating blurry paintings based on real black-and-white photographs.
Several of these works achieved significant acclaim. For instance, Warship Destroyed by Torpedo was part of his first-ever gallery exhibition in 1964. However, that painting no longer exists, as Richter recently confessed to destroying it, along with around 60 other works he no longer deemed satisfactory. The total value of these destroyed pieces is now estimated at over $650 million. Richter did take photographs of the paintings before either cutting them or burning them, but only a few were published, and the rest are kept in his private collection.
4. Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven”
There’s really no need to introduce the credentials of “Stairway to Heaven,” but the essence of it is that the song is universally regarded as one of the greatest ever made. (As a fun fact, many DJs used to play the song often due to its length, which made it ideal for a smoke break.) One undeniable truth is that there is one person who utterly dislikes the song—the man who performs it, Robert Plant.
Plant grew so frustrated with being forced to end every concert with ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and being constantly questioned about it in interviews that he began referring to it as the “damn wedding song.” For decades, he refused to entertain the idea of a Led Zeppelin reunion because he never wanted to sing it again. In a particularly drastic move, Plant even pledged money to a radio station in Portland to ensure that they never played “Stairway to Heaven” again.
This caused tension within the band, as not everyone shared Plant’s sentiments. Guitarist Jimmy Page, for instance, absolutely adored the song—particularly the long, improvised solos he played during live performances. This, in turn, became another reason why Plant disliked the song. Whenever Led Zeppelin would occasionally reunite, Plant agreed to perform “Stairway to Heaven” only on the condition that it wasn’t the final song and that Page exercised restraint during the solo.
3. Tony Kaye’s American History X
According to IMDb, American History X ranks as the 32nd best movie of all time. The film also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and a slew of other accolades, most notably recognizing Edward Norton’s remarkable performance. It was director Tony Kaye’s feature film debut, following a successful career directing music videos, so one would expect him to be pleased with the outcome. However, he was far from satisfied.
Kaye was deeply dissatisfied with the final cut of the movie. In his own words, he described himself as a “spectacular pain in the ass.” This being his first Hollywood venture, Kaye had an image of the director as a solitary rebel fighting against a corporate machine that threatened his creative vision. However, New Line Cinema didn’t share this view, and Kaye soon lost control over the editing process, largely to Edward Norton. (In the end, Kaye’s suspicions were correct, though not in the way he had hoped.)
When Kaye learned that the studio had decided to use Norton’s version of the film, he went to great lengths to sabotage it. He began by taking out full-page ads in Variety that criticized the film, running over 40 ads and spending more than $1 million of his own money. When American History X was accepted into the Toronto Film Festival, Kaye traveled from Germany to Canada and demanded that the film be removed. The most bizarre moment came when Kaye attended a meeting with New Line executives, accompanied by a priest, a monk, and a rabbi, hoping for some form of divine intervention.
2. Claude Monet’s Water Landscapes
Monet’s Water Lilies is arguably the most famous series of paintings in history. And there are many of them. These landscape pieces became the central focus of Monet’s work during the final three decades of his career. Today, around 250 oil paintings exist, the majority of which are housed in museums or private collections. However, the number could have been even greater, as Monet destroyed many of his own works.
Several factors contributed to this destructive behavior. For one, Monet struggled with cataracts in his later years, and his deteriorating eyesight was a constant source of frustration. This led to some paintings not meeting his standards. Additionally, his poor vision contributed to episodes of depression. Letters from Alice Monet reveal that the condition of a painting often depended on the artist’s emotional state. Some days, everything would be fine, and the next, Monet would stab the canvas with a knife. Monet himself claimed to have destroyed at least 30 canvasses this way. One notable occasion in 1908 saw him destroy 15 major works just days before they were set to be exhibited at the Durand-Ruel gallery in Paris.
1. Harlan EllisonThe Last Dangerous Visions
As an acclaimed sci-fi writer, Harlan Ellison also found success with Dangerous Visions, an award-winning anthology collected and edited by him, featuring stories from the greatest sci-fi writers. Authors like Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Phillip K. Dick, and, of course, Ellison himself have contributed stories to this collection.
A few years later, Ellison published Again, Dangerous Visions, a second anthology. It was another big hit with the sci-fi community. Naturally, just one year after that, Ellison announced work on a third anthology titled The Last Dangerous Visions. And then, for over 40 years . . . nothing. Despite being announced in 1973, that book is yet to be published. Why exactly, we don’t really know. Reportedly, it would have featured between 100–150 different authors (who have sold their stories to Ellison) and over one million words. Many of the writers are now dead, and most of the rest have given up on ever seeing their stories published. Only a handful have successfully withdrawn their stories and published them elsewhere.
Christopher Priest was the only author whose career was significantly aided by the anthology. He was the first to pull out his story and publish it elsewhere. Priest also wrote a pamphlet criticizing Ellison, titled The Last Deadloss Visions. The pamphlet became so popular that it was eventually expanded into a book called The Book on the Edge of Forever, which went on to be nominated for a Hugo Award. As for Ellison, he continues to express his desire for the anthology to be released, though he has instructed his wife to destroy all of his unfinished works upon his death.
