35 Hit Songs Musicians Regret Ever Releasing (2024)

Anyone who has seenThe Breakfast Clubis familiar with the Simple Minds hit, "Don't You (Forget About Me)." But the band wasn't a fan of this '80s classic when they were recording it.

Even though they now admit the song was good, at the time, they felt like the band was too hip for a movie soundtrack. When you couple that with the fact that they didn't get along well with the songwriter, this song was a regret before it was even born. Luckily, they went against their better judgment and gave the world one of the most recognizable '80s songs of all time.

"My Heart Will Go On" topped the charts in over 20 different countries, but it was a hit that almost wasn't, if Celine Dion had gotten her way.

Apparently the Canadian singer was initially reluctant to record the hit, but she eventually changed her tune. "Thank God they didn't listen to me," she remarked in one interview.

The Beastie Boys didn't regret their song "Fight for Your Right" as much as they regretted the way it was received by fans.

The song was meant to satirize party culture, but many listeners instead used it as an anthem and excuse to party even more. I guess we can't blame the Beastie Boys for their fans' lack of subtlety, though.

There aren't many people who have the same claim to fame that Madonna does, but all that fame came with a lot of hard work. Surprisingly though, even Madonna has a few hits that she just couldn't really get behind.

The track she dislikes the most is, surprisingly, one of her greatest: "Material Girl." Everybody knows this song, it's played all the time (especially for anything ‘80s or ‘90s themed). In a 2015 interview with Us Weekly, Madonna said that she "never, ever want[s] to hear it again!"

There's been a lot of controversy around this song as it's known for ripping off Queen and David Bowie's hit song "Under Pressure," and that's probably a good reason for why he hates it. In fact, it's said that Vanilla Ice hates this song so much that he went to the MTV headquarters in an attempt to destroy their master copy.

It's kind of wild that Vanilla Ice hates the only song that made him famous, and the first rap song to ever hit #1 on the pop singles chart. After all, since that song made him famous, the only thing he's really done is star in a string of weird reality TV shows and make cameos in movies.

Her persona may have been all smiles, but Britney Spears allegedly couldn't stand her 1999 hit, "Sometimes."

During a tour in the 2000s, a hot mic picked up Spears' voice backstage telling someone, "I never liked that song anyway," in reference to "Sometimes." But that obviously didn't stop her from giving the people what they wanted.

Even though "Creep" would go on to be one of their most defining songs, not everyone in Radiohead was a fan when they were recording it.

According to an interview with Rolling Stone, guitarist Jonny Greenwood didn't like the song when they were recording it. He tried to sabotage their takes, but his strange guitar noises actually made it into the final cut.

Paul McCartney made music history when he wrote "Let It Be", but bandmate John Lennon didn't seem to agree.

Lennon later complained that the song didn't sound like the Beatles--he even went as far as to say it may as well have been performed by Wings, McCartney's other band.

There are a number of artists who almost passed on their biggest hit, including Toni Braxton and her 1996 single, "Unbreak My Heart."

While Braxton obviously warmed up to the song when it became such a success, she was reluctant to record it at first. She was worried about adding another "heartbreak track" to the record, but this was definitely one smart addition!

Taylor Swift's country music career is just a distant memory at this point, but the pop superstar still regrets one of her biggest songs from the era, "Picture to Burn."

Specifically, she regrets writing a lyric about telling everyone that her ex is gay as a form of revenge. Apparently, all her other songs about tormenting exes are a-okay, though.

Even by hair metal standards, "Cherry Pie" isn't a great song, and Warrant singer (and songwriter) Jani Lane wasinclined to agree.

The immense popularity of the song turned Lane into the "Cherry Pie guy", which was something he did not enjoy at all.

Frank Sinatra couldn't stand his hit song "Strangers in the Night"--and he wasn't afraid to let anyone know it!

In addition to berating fans who requested the song, he would often preface performances of it by saying, "Here'sa song that I cannot stand." I guess when you're that famous, you don't have to sugar coat anything.

"Come and Get It" was Selena Gomez's first major hit, but the singer now describes the song as "a Rihanna reject."

While Gomez is appreciative that the song got so popular, she admits that, artistically, it wasn't the best--which could honestly describe her entire discography.

It might be a rock classic, but Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant didn't have much love for their mega-hit, "Stairway to Heaven."

In 1988, he said that at the time of writing he thought the lyrics were very deep and important, but after a decade of performing the song, he wasn't so sure. But that hasn't seemed to stop fans of all ages from loving the song themselves.

Okay, so John Lennon actually didn't like a lot of the songs that The Beatles created, but "Hello Goodbye" and "Let It Be" seemed to be two he especially disliked. "Hello Goodbye" was written by bandmate Paul McCartney, so some think Lennon just wasn't a fan of McCartney's songs.

Lennon repeatedly denied that he had anything to do with this and that it "wasn't a great piece." He also claimed that it was McCartney's "attempt to write a single." Honestly, Lennon just didn't seem to have a lot of good things to say about his bandmate's compositions.

While most of the world hates every Justin Bieber song, the Canadian singer only has one in his repertoire that he can't stand--"Beauty and a Beat."

The song, which also featured rapper Nicki Minaj, was released in 2012, but in 2016, Bieber revealed that he simply never cared for the track himself. I say don't ask too many questions and just let him be right.

Apparently there is such a thing as "too famous," and Kurt Cobain sure felt that way about the Nirvana classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Apparently, Cobain felt like MTV had shown the music video so much that the song felt inescapable. In an interview he said, "I can barely, especially on a bad night, get through ‘Teen Spirit.’ I literally want to throw my guitar down and walk away."

Even Miley gets tired of Miley sometimes--especially her hit, "Party in the USA."

Cyrus said that she doesn't completely hate the pop anthem, but rather, that it's just not who she is anymore. She might have moved on, but the party continues, it seems.

"You're Beautiful" was a hit off of James Blunt's debut album, and it was everywhere. That was apparently a problem for James.

While he doesn't hate the song itself, he does admit that it was "force fed" down everyone's throats in the early 2000s. We and he were bound to get sick of it at some point.

TLC was one of the biggest girl groups of the ‘90s, and people absolutely loved them. The band's 1994 hit "Creep" was arguably one of their biggest successes in the music industry, and a lot of people still love it today. But, one member of TLC just couldn't get with this song.

"Creep" was a great success, but Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes could not get behind it. Left Eye was completely against the message of the song, which was about a woman cheating on her significant other in retaliation after he cheated on her. In fact, Left Eye was so against the idea that she threatened to wear black tape over her mouth when they filmed the music video.

Created by the English pop duo Wham!, "Bad Boys" debuted in 1983 and eventually became the bestselling single of the year. While it may have helped them get their name out there more, it still wasn't exactly a favorite of George and Andrew.

In fact, George very quickly denounced the song and named it one he absolutely hated. He would later describe the song as "an albatross round my neck." The two infamously left the song off their 1997 Greatest Hits compilation in lieu of including tracks that hadn't been released as singles.

It might be one of his most recognizable songs, but Kanye West was never that into his 2005 hit "Gold Digger."

However, Kanye knew what he was doing when he released his track to the public. Despite "never really liking" the song, he knew he had a hit on his hands--and more importantly, he knew the money he made from "Gold Digger" could be used to fund projects he was genuinely interested in.

"Royals" brought New Zealand artist Lorde to mainstream notoriety, but she really beats herself up for what she perceives as a hot mess.

In one interview, she had this to say about her hit: "I listen to people covering the song and putting their own spin on it—and I listen to it in every single form except the original one I put out—and I realize that actually it sounds horrible." Apparently, her fans were not hearing the same thing as she was!

Brothers and Oasis frontment Noel and Liam Gallagher are not afraid to complain about anything and everything. And that's especially true when it comes to their hit song, "Wonderwall."

In one interview, Liam had this to say about "Wonderwall" and its legacy--"Every time I have to sing it I want to gag. Problem is, it was a big, big tune for us. You go to America and they’re like: ‘Are you Mr Wonderwall?’ You want to chin someone.”

We wouldn't have changed a thing, but apparently, Lady Gaga had some gripes about her 2009 hit with Beyonce, "Telephone."

Gaga was less-than-pleased with the final cut of the music video--to the point of hating it. She also remarked that she wished she had editedthe video herself, and there's no telling how weird it would have been if she did.

"Brass in Pocket" was a number one hit for the Pretenders in the 1980s, but lead singer Chrissie Hynde was not thrilled when their producer said it was going to be a single for the band.

Even though Hynde said the track would only be released "over my dead body," the song traveled the air waves and became a fan favorite. Even decades later, Hynde didn't have anything nice to say about this iconic piece of Pretenders history.

"Heart of Gold" was Neil Young's only number one hit, and it felt like a thorn in his side for the rest of his career.

Young expressed regret that "Heart of Gold" skyrocketed him to popularity, as he felt that the mainstream world of music was too boring for him.

Bob Geldof co-wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas" as a way to raise money for the Ethiopian famine of the 80s. But he pulled a real Scrooge when he revealed that he wasn't actually a fan of the song.

Describing it as one of the worst songs in history, Geldof laments the fact that he hears it all over the place every Christmas season.

Most of us have forgotten about Mandy Moore's musical debut in the early 2000s, but she hasn't, and she still regrets her sickeningly sweet hit, "Candy."

In her defense, there was no highly manufactured pop music that was good at the time, but Moore really felt bad about unleashing "Candy" on the world. She even went as far as to say, "If I had the money, I would give a refund to everyone who bought my first two albums."

Ronnie James Dio was the singer and name inspiration for the band Dio, but he didn't always agree with the direction the band went in.

Despite it being one of their biggest hits, Dio was never a fan of "Rainbow in the Dark." He described it as being "too poppy," which, with respect to Mr. Dio, is probably the craziest way you could describe this heavy metal classic.

"Shiny Happy People" was a top-10 hit in the 90s for the band R.E.M., but frontman Michael Stipe didn't have many nice things to say about it when asked.

He described the R.E.M. hit as a "fruity pop song written for children," and despaired at the thought of it being a part of the band's legacy. I guess if anyone is allowed to say that, it's the songwriter.

First is not always best, and Ariana Grande agrees when it comes to her debut single, "Put Your Hearts Up."

Grande felt that the song was too childish for her, which made everything seem fake. She also described filming the music video as "the worst moment of my life."

You would think that A Flock of Seagulls would regret their fashion choices in the 80s, but instead, they regret their biggest hit, "I Ran."

But it's not really about the song at all. They're just sick of playing it--and when it's the one and only thing people are requesting, you better believe they have to play it a lot.

"Pinball Wizard" was featured on the Who's mind-bending rock opera album,Tommy, and would go on to be one of the bands most loved singles. However, Pete Townshend wasn't feeling the love.

He described "Pinball Wizard" as one of the worst pieces he's ever written, despite it being one of the biggest successes for the Who.