Name: Top 10 Musicians Who RUINED Their Careers by Changing Their Look
Uploaded: 2026-01-06T08:46:05.000Z
Duration: 12 min 59 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

today we'll be counting down our picks for those instances where musicians gambled upon a new visual aesthetic but ultimately came up short.

Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines there's no more waiting, holding out loud it was a wild musical experiment that probably didn't pay off in the way that Garth Brooks intended when he dreamt it up.

Chris Gaines served as a creative alter ego to Brooks, an alternative pop rocker that not only dropped the cowboy hats and jeans for a more designer look, but

also had an attitude whose existence allowed for Brooks to perform different kinds of music.

The country icon even brought his Chris Gaines to the stage of Saturday Night Live, further confusing fans that were wondering what exactly Garth Brooks was doing with that hair and those clothes.

Like when Garth Brooks put on that wig and pretended to be that other dude.

But I love when someone goes like whoa, whoa, way off the reservation.

The Chris Gaines experiment only lasted a year back in 1999, but

the resulting album of new music titled Garth Brooks in the Life of Chris Gaines actually earned a charting Billboard Top five single with Lost in youn.

There's been a lot of discussion with regards to just how far Billy Ray Cyrus daughter Miley has eclipsed her dad in terms of relevancy.

One thing's for sure, however, the elder Cyrus certainly had the market cornered on mullets.

The achy Breaky Heart star changed his hairdo and look during his brief foray into the Christian entertainment sphere.

This appearance ran parallel to Cyrus packed series doc, and

he never really returned to sporting the haircut of the gods after he ditched writing and recording gospel tunes and returned to the country music fold.

It can be interesting to view just how far a band travels away from its embryonic roots.

Jefferson Airplane helped define psychedelic rock during the 1960s, complete with the sort of colorful and flowing outfits indicative of the period, all while embodying an idealistic youth movement.

Fast Forward to the mid-70s and Jefferson Starship continued in this mold, albeit with a less 60s leaning look that seemed to point towards something more casual, and

the addition of Mickey Thomas on vocals in 1979 signified a turning point.

However, as hit singles like Jane hinted at more commercial success, Thomas and former Airplane vocalist Grace Slick continued on with Starship, a melodically rich hit machine whose ultra 80s look felt to some fans like a single selling out of those aforementioned 60s principles for corporate cash.

It's interesting to juxtapose the surf obsessed era of the Beach Boys against the group's many attempts at reinvention.

This isn't to say that such albums as Sunflower or Friends didn't perform well critically, but

this was a time the band has essentially abandoned their clean cut surfer look for something more haphazard.

Some of these musical experiments, such as the Beach Boys Love youe, gained retroactive cult status years later, but

failed to give the group any traction on the charts.

Meanwhile, the Mike Love led era of the Beach Boys tried to revert back to that sun and fun look with albums like Still Cruisin or the disastrous Summer in Paradise, but

these efforts felt more like boomer nostalgia in a costume than relevant creativity.

6 kiss the word ruined is admittedly being used in a relative fashion when discussing one of the most financially lucrative bands in the world.

Said the decision for the group to remove their makeup in 1983 signified a new era for Kiss, one that was embracing the more contemporary heavy metal sounds of the 1980s.

The resulting albums did well with LPs like Asylum, containing some of that era's heaviest and most dynamic tunes, while also showcasing the band's adoption of a more traditional hard rock, slash heavy metal jean and T shirt look.

Still, not all of Kiss's fans appreciated this gesture, and

many yearned for the band's platform shoe wearing, fire breathing 70s heyday.

This resulted in the band eventually returning to this approach, putting the makeup back on until their formal retirement from touring in 2023.

There have been some critics out there that have risen to the Defense of Chinese Democracy by Guns N Roses.

Yet even those who appreciated what this album had to offer musically can probably come to one specific the band sure took too long in bringing it to life.

This epic length delay wasn't helped by a 2002 VMA comeback performance on MTV, one that debuted freshly cornrowed Axl Rose.

Backed by a new band, The new look was disconcerting to many Fans didn't really know what to do with this Guns n Roses and were far more interested in a reunion that brought together all of the Sunset Strip vibes that the band brought back in the 1980s.

The old Guns n Roses eventually returned to touring the nostalgia circuit, but

interest in their new music has admittedly remained niche since Chinese Democracy hit racks back in 2008.

Heavy metal fans can often be intensely loyal, but

can also turn hard at even the smallest sign of selling out.

Germany's Deconstruction know this well, as does Celtic Frost from Switzerland.

The latter are fellow trailblazers of extreme metal, thanks not only to their early 80s history of hell hammer, but

Internal tensions led to restructuring, however, and

the subsequent album Cold Lake featured Frost teasing their hair, smiling for the camera and going glam.

It took a proper metallic return in 2006 to earn fan forgiveness, although Cold Lake has since been re evaluated by some as a unique experiment of hair metal looks and heavy riff experimentalism.

The 90s and early 90s early millennium felt like lost years for the former Sunset Strip gods in Motley Crue.

Hair metal felt like it was in the rearview and Motley Crue felt like they had to compete.

Resulting albums like Generation Swine and a self titled effort from 1994 incorporated grunge and electronic elements, but

also saw the group ditching the hairspray in favor of Flannel.

The latter especially had Crew fans rebelling despite new frontman John Corabi's undeniable talent as a vocalist.

It took the jettisoning of Crew's contemporary image and the rehiring of former singer Vince Neil for fans to eventually come back around for a participation trophy.

Retread with 2008's Saints of Los Angeles.

It must have felt like a dream, nightmare or bad joke for fans of MC Hammer, fans who were around when the you can't touch the singer tried to go gangsta.

The Funky Headhunter was Hammer's second album after dropping the MC from his name and signified a more grounded and realistic musical direction.

This was reflected in Hammer's look and demeanor, a tougher and edgier performer that wasn't smiling for the people any longer.

Not everybody was convinced by Hammer's approach here, however, and

not even a return to his older sound with the Inside out album from 1995 could save the sinking ship.

Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.

You have the option to be notified for occasional videos, or all of them.

If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and Switch on notifications.

Some records have a bad reputation, but standing in the spotlight is something else.

An ill advised sojourn into hip hop by Dee Dee Ramone.

The LP actually contains elements of rock n roll, doo wop and punk as well, but

king is far more remembered for both his feeble attempts at rapping and his shift from leather jacket wearing punk to neo 80s rap star than anything else.

Stories have circulated about how Dee Dee would break up the Ramones very specific dress code by showing up in his rap regalia.

Standing in the spotlight may not have killed the career of Dee Dee Ramone, but

it certainly remains a confounding moment of vanity recording and identity confusion.

Feel like defending any of these controversial career moves?