From G’N’R to R.E.M.: When bands despise their own hit songs

We all have that one song that makes us change the station every time it comes on the radio. Now imagine this: you wrote that song, it became your biggest hit, and people have been screaming for it every night for the last 40 years. Nightmare fuel.

Here are 5 iconic artists/bands who wish they could erase their own hit:

John Mellencamp - “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”: Mellencamp has never exactly hidden his feelings about this one. He thought it was way too pop and didn’t even want it on Scarecrow. The story (which sounds fake but is apparently true) is that he and his manager settled the argument with an arm-wrestling match. Mellencamp lost. The song stayed. And now he’s been playing it for decades like some kind of musical penance.

Robert Plant - “Stairway to Heaven”: Jimmy Page still loves it. Robert Plant? Absolutely not. Plant has spent years clowning on the song, saying that having to sing it every night would make him “break out in hives”. He’s also called the lyrics cheesy and compared it to a wedding song—never a compliment coming from a rock god.

Heart - “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You”: Ann Wilson has been very clear about this one: she hates it. She’s called the lyrics “gross” and “creepy” and honestly…I think that’s fair. If you’ve forgotten the plot, it’s about a woman picking up a random hitchhiker to use him for a baby and then dumping him. Not exactly the love song vibe people seem to think it is.

R.E.M. - “Shiny Happy People”: Michael Stipe has basically disowned this song. The band avoided playing it live for years, and Stipe once described it as a “fruity pop song written for children” He even joked that if one R.E.M. song ever got sent into space to represent the band, he would pray it wasn’t this one.

Guns N’ Roses - “Sweet Child O’ Mine”: This one might be the funniest. Slash didn’t just dislike the song—he thought the opening riff was dumb. He played it as a joke during rehearsal, calling it a “circus melody,” and even tried to sabotage it by throwing in atonal notes to ruin it. Unfortunately for him, Axl Rose loved it. The joke became a global hit, and Slash has been stuck playing that riff ever since.

So next time you’re at a show and the band launches into their biggest hit, take a look at the singer’s face. They might be smiling for the crowd…but there’s a decent chance they’re wishing they were playing literally anything else.