I like the music, but not the musician

I just spun REM's "Automatic for the People", an album which I love. I remember watching Michael Stipe at award shows during this period, and thought he was very pretentious. It never spoiled my enjoyment of the music, however. So, two questions I suppose: 1. Do you feel this way about an artist/band? 2. Are you not to enjoy an artist's music if you dislike their personality?

 

!. Ted Nugent
2. I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does.

 

Van Morrison. Fortunately, I fell in love with his music before I learned how much of a curmudgeon he is. I can still enjoy his music.

 

Ted Nugent immediately comes to mind.

 

Well he's one I hate both.

 

Tons of musicians come to mind that I don't particularly like their public personae, but love their music.

 

Danzig 1-4

 

Charles Manson
Bobby Beausoleil
Phil Spector

 

Jim Morrison

 

Can't stand him or his music.

 

Ritchie Blackmore. Absolutely brilliant guitarist. I never get sick of listening to his solos.

But a first class D-bag.

Honorable mention to Nugent, though I have heard from others that he's a decent guy when cameras or microphones aren't around.

 

My favorite rock band is The Fall, but acknowledge that Mark E. Smith is a selfish, narcissistic creep.

 

Burzum (Varg Vikernes)

 

U2/Bono.... He's a Lennon wannabe

 

For me, it was the overexposure mixed with the rock-star posing and "artiste" posing that spoiled them for me. Now that the wind has died down, I can sit back and enjoy their music on its own merits.

 

Several highly-talented and revolting cocks have already been mentioned in this thread, so I'll put another log on the fire:

Sebastian Bach.

Amazing singer; utter turdblossom.

 

Can you be over-over-exposed? After U2's Zooropa, I was at a point where I could only enjoy "Boy". The final nails in the coffin for me in re: Bono was a Louis Vuitton ad and a gag-inducing interview conducted in Bono's sportscar.

 

Ted Nugent IMMEDIATELY popped into my head. Loudmouthed idiot but that doesn't stop me from cranking up Stranglehold!

Gene Simmons is an a$$ as well.

 

That has to be the winning nomination.

 

Burzum. Lemme guess, was it that whole killing-of-bandmember incident?

and Gene Simmons! Man, I can't stomach the idea of buying his "merchandise". I get an image of him laughing a banker's laugh in some mansion somewhere. Not very rock 'n roll.

 

The singing Nun. What was her name? Dominique nic ninc something? I hear she was really hard to get along with. So many demands!

 

True, and Simmons isn't even that talented as a bass player. He's average at best, and I do enjoy the music of KISS. It's kind of ironic that the weakest musician in the band has the biggest ego.

 

Watch Until the Light Takes Us sometime. The experience will curdle your toenails. The man isn't just a murderer, he's also a social Darwinist, a white supremacist, an anti-modernist, and generally a guy who wants to kill every immigrant and foreigner in Europe, and turn the clock back to the dark ages when the Vikings, the Visigoths, and Ostrogoths ran everything.

Which is ironic, because he's a 90lbs weakling who wouldn't last five seconds in that environment.

Varg has written some amazing riffs and melodies, but I will never spend one single $ on his music so long as he lives.

 

Unless it becomes a requirement to host the artist in your home when listening to their music, who cares. Always thought Roger Waters was a bit of an a$$hole, but it never stopped me from enjoying Pink Floyd (although it did, I must confess, give me momentary enjoyment to conclude that his first two solo efforts were crap). I think he's mellowed with age, as we all have, though.

 

I might be careful judging a musician too harshly because he or she can be a jerk. They are artists. I've found artists in many fields can be quite disagreeable at times. The people skills of artists are often poor. I don't discount the character of the person because of this. I just say, oh, well, they're an artist.