There is now a new marker down for reunion tours. Oasis depart these lands to take their Live ’25 extravaganza to North America imminently and you wonder if, in the wake of their triumphant, money-spinning, good vibes-summoning comeback, they’ve inspired any other artists who’ve been through a messy split to give it another go. But bands should beware – there’s a saying in football that you should never go back, and whilst there’s a possibility that it might well just be a saying that my Uncle Chas says, it also applies to rock’n’roll. Basically, if you thought the bassist was mega annoying first time round, it’s highly likely that the fella will still have a supernatural ability to rattle your cage. But musicians are simple creatures with an almost heroic ability to forget the turmoil and trauma that’s gone before, which is why we’re suggesting any rockers currently considering getting the band back together cast an eye over this list. It doesn’t always go well. Sometimes, it goes worse. Here’s ten reunions that went terribly…
Led Zeppelin
The big one. The remaining members of Led Zeppelin had many reasons to reunite at a tribute concert to their influential former label president Ahmet Ertegun in 2007 but one huge motivation was to put the nightmare that was their appearance at Live Aid in 1985. Their 22-minute, shambolic appearance at Philadelphia’s John F Kennedy stadium has entered into band folklore with those involved never shy to put the blame elsewhere. Guest drummer Phil Collins says it went badly because Robert Plant and Jimmy Page weren’t in the right shape, Page says it was down to the fact Collins didn’t know the songs well enough. It was a perfect storm: a bad idea, terribly executed.
Rage Against The Machine
The LA rockers’ touted 2020 comeback was beset by troubles, and they weren’t all of their own making. First off, there was Covid, lockdown forcing the band to reschedule their first full tour in 22 years back a full two years, scheduled to hit the road in spring and summer 2022. But disaster struck when frontman Zach de la Rocha injured his leg during the second show in Chicago. The singer made it through the rest of the US tour, performing seated (an odd sight for such a kinetic, frenetic stage presence), but RATM cancelled all other dates, including a planned European jaunt and another round of shows in North America. They haven’t been seen since, and drummer Brad Wilk said in 2024 that the band was done. It meant one of the fiercest rock groups of the modern age went out with a whimper, and they were never a band who did whimpering.
Creed
The Creed renaissance has been in full swing for a couple of years now, with the Florida post-grunge crew playing some of their biggest ever shows on recent tours. But an initial attempt to reform petered out lamely in 2013 as the intra-band issues that pulled them apart in the first place resurfaced. Speaking to this writer in 2024, frontman Scott Stapp struggled to explain what went wrong. “I’m kind of at a loss [to explain it] because my heart was in the right place,” he said. “I think there were certain things in my life at that period of time that I needed to weed out and get rid of which could enable me to be the best version of myself. I think that would be the only difference between then and now.” It’s obviously worked – the 2024-2025 version of Creed is absolutely flying.
The Verve
In all but name, the set that Richard Ashcroft played supporting Oasis this summer was a Verve set, the songs mostly pulled from the band’s anthemic peak Urban Hymns. But Ashcroft actually being joined onstage ever again is very unlikely – him and his old bandmates don’t go well together. Their 2009 reunion (their second – they’d split up before Urban Hymns, too) is a case in point, the band embarking on a run of solid but workmanlike dates and even making a new record together before deciding they still couldn’t stand the sight of each other. Rumours flew that Ashcroft and the others – virtuoso guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones and drummer Pete Salisbury – barely saw each other one tour, his bandmates of the opinion that Ashcroft was only doing it in an attempt to reignite his solo career.
Pink Floyd
One of the most highly-anticipated reunions in rock history was a short-lived affair – four classic numbers, delivered impeccably, the long-running unrest between Roger Waters and David Gilmour dissipating into the warm London night as Pink Floyd reunited to play at Live 8, their first performance together in 24 years. But despite the image of the band stood triumphant at the end of their set, arms around each other, suggesting that maybe there was a full tour on the cards, that was about as much as they could take of each other. “The rehearsals convinced me it wasn’t something I wanted to be doing a lot of,” Gilmour told Classic Rock in a feature about the show a few years ago. “It was great but it was closure. It was like sleeping with your ex-wife. There’s no future for Pink Floyd.”
Jane’s Addiction
Jane’s Addiction were always a band whose alchemy built on chaos and aggy energy but still, no-one saw the explosive, shocking end to their 2024 reunion coming. It had started well, a comeback show at London’s Bush Hall suggesting it would be a success. But Perry Farrell’s onstage behaviour became ever more unhinged, leading to the singer throwing a punch at guitarist Dave Navarro during a show in Boston in mid-September. Game over.
Cocteau Twins
One of the most sensible entries here. Where most other bands in this list realised the discord was the same as it had always been but still went ahead anyway, dream-pop trailblazers the Cocteau Twins nipped it in the bud nice and early. After splitting in the mid-90s, they announced they were headlining Coachella in 2005 only to do a u-turn and cancel a month later, with singer Elizabeth Fraser announcing she was unable to work with her ex-bandmate and ex-partner Robin Guthrie. How’s that for efficiency?
Flowered Up
This London baggy crew had crashed and burned in the early 90s after some mild chart success, torn apart by drug issues and fighting. But there was a chance at redemption in 2005, when they were invited to play with the Happy Mondays at a big event in Clapham Common. It was a disaster, with guitarist Joe Maher playing the wrong songs. “He swears he didn’t take anything,” drummer John Tovey told The Guardian. “But he ended up being carted out by St John Ambulance in a straitjacket.” Not long after, frontman Liam Maher died from a heroin overdose. Joe also died from health complications a few years later. Best to remember them by their epic 1992 single Weekender.
At The Drive-In
No major disasters here, but more a feeling of pointlessness. The Texas post-hardcore crew’s had already drawn a line under their career with a round of reunion dates in 2012 and this follow-up comeback tour now looks like a needless add-on. There was always the sense that frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala felt a little aggrieved at going back to base, and a feeling that the band was split into two camps – the Mars Volta lot and the Sparta lot – and never the twain shall meet. They gave it a go, releasing one last album and embarking on an accompanying tour but nothing touched the heights of their heyday and the fact they ended up calling it quits as soon as they’d fulfilled scheduled dates made the whole thing feel anti-climactic. It wasn't a fresh start, after all, it was a second ending.
Van Halen – 2004 edition
Sammy Hager returned to the Van Halen line-up for their 2004 tour, their first tour since 1998, and he and the iconic guitarist got straight down to what they did best – falling out. EVH was far from his mercurial best, with Hagar claiming his haphazard playing was down to a drinking problem, something Van Halen agreed with in a 2015 Billboard interview. Originally planned as a global jaunt, they called time on the tour once the North American legs had concluded.
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