6. Lostprophets Singer Charged With Child Sex Offenses
It’s shocking to hear of anyone accused of inappropriate behavior with a minor (especially a rock star). However, words cannot describe our reaction to hearing that among the many accusations Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was being charged with was conspiring to rape a one-year-old girl. It should be noted, though, that Watkins has yet to be found guilty of the crimes and details are still emerging. Still, such allegations are extremely startling nonetheless. And even if Watkins is innocent, it’ll certainly be hard for him and his band to rebound from such a scandal.
5. Bill Ward’s Public Dropout From Black Sabbath
After months of rumors, it was announced on 11/11/11 that we’d finally see a reunion of the original Black Sabbath as well as a new studio album, the line-ups first since 1978’s Neve Say Die! Then, in January earlier this year, Tony Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma. Though scaling back on their original tour plans, the group was determined to move forward nonetheless…until Bill Ward announced that he wouldn’t join the reunion until he was given a “signable contract.” Both parties went back and forth for several months until the rest of Sabbath decided to move on without Bill Ward, with Ozzy’s drummer Tommy Clufetos filling in for both studio and touring duties. We’d like to say that we have nothing but respect for Bill Ward and that we can’t pretend like we know everything that was going on behind the scenes. It’s just unfortunate that the reunion has hit so many roadblocks this past year.
