Instrument destruction

The destruction of musical instruments is an act performed by a few pop, rock and other musicians during live performances, particularly at the end of the gig.

Early years

In 1956, on the Lawrence Welk Show, a zoot-suited performer billed as "Rockin' Rocky Rockwell" did a mocking rendition of Elvis Presley's hit song "Hound Dog." At the conclusion of the song, he smashed an acoustic guitar to smithereens over his knee.^[1] Ira Louvin was famous for smashing mandolins that he deemed out-of-tune.^[2]

A broken guitar.

Jerry Lee Lewis may be the first rock artist to have destroyed his equipment on stage, with several, possibly erroneous, stories of him destroying and burning pianos in the 1950s.^[3]

Jazz musician Charles Mingus, known for his fiery temper, reportedly smashed his $20,000 bass onstage in response to audience hecklers at New York's Five Spot.^[4]

In the mid 1960s, guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who was the first guitar-smashing rock artist. Rolling Stone magazine included his smashing of a Rickenbacker guitar at the Railway Hotel in September 1964^[5][6] in their list of the "50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock & Roll".^[7] A student of Gustav Metzger, Townshend saw his guitar smashing as a kind of auto-destructive art.

Keith Moon, The Who's drummer, was also known for destroying his drum set. The most spectacular episode of this occurred during The Who's debut on U.S. television on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. Moon overloaded his bass drum with explosive charges which were detonated during the finale of the song, "My Generation." The explosion caused guest Bette Davis to faint, set Pete Townshend's hair on fire and, according to legend, contributed to his later partial deafness and tinnitus. Moon was also injured in the explosion when shrapnel from the cymbals cut his arm.^[8] VH1 later placed this event at number ten on their list of the twenty Greatest Rock and Roll Moments on Television.^[9]

Jeff Beck, then a member of the Yardbirds, reluctantly destroyed a guitar in the 1966 film Blowup after being told to emulate The Who by director Michelangelo Antonioni.^[10] Jimi Hendrix is also famous for destroying his guitars and amps. He famously burned two guitars at three shows, most notably the Monterey Pop Festival.^[11]

Paul Stanley of Kiss is also noted for destroying his guitars after playing the final song of each tour which is usually Rock and Roll All Nite, although he frequently replaces the one he's been playing for a cheaper smashable one.^{[citation needed]}

Instrument destruction has also featured in other musical genres. Towards the end of Peter Maxwell Davies's monodrama Eight Songs for a Mad King, first performed in 1969, the vocalist seizes the violin from one of the musicians and smashes it.

Later instrument destruction

Charly García with a smashed guitar.

Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow smashed guitars in performance through the seventies.^[12]

Paul Simonon of The Clash famously destroyed his bass only once at the side of stage, a photograph of the event becoming the iconic cover to their London Calling album.^[13]

Kurt Cobain and members of Nirvana smashed guitars and other equipment at performances throughout the band's career.^[14][15]

When on tour, "Weird Al" Yankovic frequently performs an acoustic ballad parody, "You Don't Love Me Anymore", holding a guitar, but never actually playing it. At the song's conclusion, he smashes the guitar, emulating the conclusion to the song's original music video.

Matthew Bellamy of Muse has the world record at breaking guitars, destroying 140 during the Absolution Tour. ^[16]

In 2007, Win Butler of Arcade Fire destroyed an acoustic guitar at the end of a live performance of "Intervention" on Saturday Night Live, after a string had broken during the performance.^[17]

In 2012, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day destroyed his guitar at the end of a live performance of iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas as a sign of outburst of not given enough time for his performance. ^[18] Mike Dirnt, Green Day's bassist, also hit his guitar against an amplifier multiple times before throwing it to the ground.

John Hiatt criticized the practice in the title song of his 1993 hit album Perfectly Good Guitar.

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day also threw his guitar off stage during a performance of the song "Waiting" at Reading Festival 2013.

See also

• Gallagher, a comedian who regularly smashes watermelons on stage as part of his act
• Shock rock
• List of musicians known for destroying instruments

Notes