7. Scott Stapp breaks down
Is Scott Stapp metal? Nope. However, post-grunge band Creed was inescapable in the ‘90s and early ‘oughts, and were probably a gateway band to metal for some. The band have sold over 40 million copies worldwide, which would lead you to believe that they’re not ever going broke. That turned out not to be the case, according to frontman Scott Stapp. Last month, he posted some since-deleted Facebook videos claiming that the label, the IRS and the banks had depleted his savings and that he had been splitting his time between living in his truck and the Holiday Inn where he filmed the videos.
It turned out that his wife Jaclyn had filed for divorce from him, which might have led him to go off the deep end. She alleged that he was on drugs, which the singer emphatically denied. It gets worse: TMZ got ahold of a 911 call in which she claims he was riding around the neighborhood on a bicycle claiming he was a CIA agent sent to assassinate the president. That’s over the top for anyone, not to mention the singer of one of the most popular bands of the 2000s. Even if this is just an ugly divorce battle that’s being aired out in real time in public, it’s disturbing, and here’s hoping Stapp gets the help he needs. Dude’s clearly gone off the deep end. – by BT
6. Blake Judd’s continuing breakdown
It’s not news that Blake Judd is a pretty hated figure in the metal community, but if you’re actively being more shitty than Varg Vikernes, there’s clearly a huge problem, and that problem was…pretty much just heroin. After landing in jail (and subsequently not being able to play our 2013 CMJ showcase) for failing to supply merch orders and ripping off fans for drug money, Blake Judd showed everyone how sorry he was and atoned by…ripping off his fans for drug money again. As questions began rising and tensions started to boil around another round of suspiciously absent merch orders, Judd pulled all of Nachtmystium’s social media accounts in an attempt to whitewash the situation. A scathing and utterly exhausting expose from a former friend and bandmate certainly didn’t help his public image any, and he’s since dropped off the face of the earth; eyewitnesses allege to him being destitute somewhere in Chicago. A sad sendoff to one of modern black metal’s great talents, who took his own already sputtering career behind the barn and put two in the back of its head. Drugs are bad, mmkay? – by ND
