Article includes guitarist who prefers to fix cars, bassist who only talks to colleagues via lawyer and drummer who may lack tribute to her
Not every musician is involved in this segment to be famous. And when popularity comes, even more worldwide, the sensation can be overwhelming. Become a burden.
Therefore, there are artists and celebrities from different segments who, times after the winning of large scale recognition for their work, choose to get away. In such cases, it is not about trying to continue to be successful and not to be able to, but to choose to stay away from the spotlight.
With nuances to be considered, this is the case of these 5 celebrated rock musicians who disappeared from the public radar and became inmates. Check it out!
5 famous rock musicians who disappeared and became inmates
1) John Deacon
Even with the vocalist’s death Freddie Mercuryin 1991, the Queen It had some activities immediately. The works included the guitarist Brian Maythe bassist Roger Taylor and the bassist John Deacon. However, it progressively moved away from the group, but also from the general public radar. With only three shows performed – all in the 1990s – and participation in music “No One But You (Only the Good Die Young)”he disappeared from the spotlight.
In the 2000s, May and Taylor reactivated the Queen with Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company). Then the project brought Adam Lambert to the microphone. On both occasions, John Deacon did not participate. He simply wanted to leave the scene and chose to live a reclined life, next to his wife, Veronica Tetzlaffwith whom it had six children.
Still, Deacon is always consulted to approve any band related to the band – such as the movie Bohemian Rhapsody2018. However, the contact is through lawyers. May and Taylor claim not to talk to the former colleague. To the newspaper The Guardian (via Igor Miranda website), Brian comments
“I don’t think I can go into many details – we need to respect the fact that John needs his privacy now – but he is still part of the band’s machinery. If we make any important decision, in terms of business, we always consulted John. It doesn’t mean he goes on with us – he usually doesn’t speak – but he communicates somehow. He’s still very part of the queen.”
2) Izzy Stradlin
In over a decade, the guitarist Izzy Stradlin Only appeared to counter a speech by the singer Axl Rose regarding the meeting of Guns n ‘Roses. In an interview curiously to a Brazilian vehicle – the program Fantasticfrom the TV Globo -, the singer stated in the middle of the past decade that Stradlin declined an invitation to return, along with the guitarist Slash and the bassist DUFF MCKAGANbecause “every day he wants something.”
Through the nets, Izzy resurfaced to reveal that he did not return because his colleagues “did not want to share the money into equal parts.” This was the only breath of the guitarist activity in recent years.
Stradlin was possibly the member closest to Rose in the early days of Guns. The two knew each other since high school and studied at the same school in the American state of Indiana. The pair remained well tuned during the early bands, conducting the creative process. As time passed, however, Axl distanced himself from his colleagues and Izzy was the first to leave on his own – before him, the drummer Steven Adler It had been fired – in late 1991, amid a series of disagreements with the singer and dissatisfaction with the heavy pace of road activities.
Outside the GN’R, Stradlin developed a productive solo career until the late 2000s. At a given moment, he played practically one album a year. The last was Wave of Heatin 2010. Then, nothing else was done. He even participated in a Guns N ‘Roses concert in 2012 before the meeting. It was the final presentation of the musician.
And what do Izzy do these days? Steven Adler revealed a few years ago in an interview with the radio Wrif (via Igor Miranda website):
“He only buys old cars, fixes them, drives the country to his ranch. He has a ranch in Indiana or something. He has a talent to live. Living requires talent and he has talent for life.”
3) Meg White
Even at the height of White Stripes, Meg White I had an enigmatic persona. I didn’t give interviews, nor did it make appearances without the band’s partner Jack Whiteresponsible for conducting all communication. The group ended in 2011, four years after the last tour was canceled due to an anxiety crisis suffered by the drummer. Jack, with whom she was married between 1996 and 2000, continued producing, but the musician abandoned the industry for good.
Between the canceled tour and the end of White Stripes, Meg White married for the second time, with Jackson Smithson of Patti Smith. Interestingly, the ceremony was held at Jack White’s house, his ex-husband, well reserved. They divorced in 2013. Meg continues to live in Detroit, in a very quiet life.
In a rare interview in 2003, Meg White explained the reason for being so round:
“I never called the other things that people call, such as being recognized on the streets. I always suspected everyone, so it’s easy to stay in my little world.”
In 2014, Rolling Stone USAJack White revealed to believe that no one else of White Stripes has kept contact with Meg.
“She was always a hermit. When we lived in Detroit, I had to go to her house to talk. Now it’s almost never.”
In recent years, however, some publications on social networks indicate that there is more contact between the two. There is some hope of meeting to receive the honor of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famelater this year. Still, it sounds very unlikely.
4) Vinnie Vincent
This is the most curious case to say the least – and today it is the least reclusive on the list, but it is still wrapped in mystery. Guitarist of Kiss between 1982 and 1984, Vinnie Vincent It has spent almost two decades without making public appearances. It disappeared in the mid-1990s, after controversial stakes in exhibitions related to his former ground-during which he could not even use the makeup that made him famous due to copyright-and release an EP titled Euphoria.
The disappearance kind of ended in a bizarre way. Vincent was arrested in 2011, accused of assaulting his wife, Diane Cusanodeceased three years later. He spent the night in jail and was released the next morning after paying bail of $ 10,000. It was later announced that police officers found four dogs killed in contained containers in the couple’s residence, as well as another 20 in a degrading situation. Both the musician and his wife said his other dogs ended up attacking and killing the minors, whose corpses were in the volumes. No occurrences were recorded against Vincent with regard to this subject. As for the allegation by Diane, Vinnie got rid of serving a closed sentence because she agreed to undergo anger control therapy.
In early 2018, Vinnie Vincent agreed to attend some Kiss -related events. In the first of them, he vented, albeit in a little specific way:
“I spent 20 years in hell. The blows I suffered could have been not so big. They could have been fast and amicably eliminated 20 years of pain.”
Although he said this, Vinnie Vincent said her life became “small as it could be.”
“I became very happy and happy. All I do is play, compose, record, take care of my dogs. I have a very private and peaceful life, I haven’t had it for long. Many fans know many things, but they don’t know many things either.”
From then on, there were sporadic appearances: he was at a solo event of Gene Simmonsone of his chiefs in Kiss; made a pocket show beyond bizarre with Ace Frehley and Bruce Kulickformer group guitarists-no drummer (with playback in place) and forbidden cell phones-and promised several times to launch unprecedented material, something that has not yet fulfilled. In 2023, he even announced a vocalist with whom he would work, called Scott Boardbut a few days later it turned back.
Despite the rapprochement with Simmons, Vincent is persona non grata in Kiss. The guitarist sued the band more than once demanding copyright that in the end, according to the court, they were not due.
5) D’Arcy Wretzky
In 2018, the SMASHING PUMPKINS He met with two of his classic members. The frontman Billy Corganfinally, he returned to work with the guitarist James Iha and the drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Only the bassist was missing D’Arcy Wretzky – And that was not such a big surprise, because it has been disappeared from the public radar for years.
The relationship between Wretzky and Corgan, for most time they both worked together, was bad. The bassist left the group in 1999, after a short meeting tour succeeding a three -year period without shows. Justifying the breakup, D’Arcy stated that he would try an actress career who, after all, did not avenge.
Shortly after his departure, Wretzky was arrested for drug possession. At the time, Corgan even defined it in his Live Journal (via Igor Miranda website) as a “Addicted to malicious drugs that refused to receive help” And he assured that, in fact, she was fired from the group.
Outside the spotlight definitively, D’Arcy moved to a farm in the state of Michigan, where he created horses. In 2009, he called a radio in Chicago to say he would not play with Smashing Pumpkins due to not healthy enough. A few years later, he was once again arrested for different reasons: missing court hearings during which he should defend himself for problems allegedly caused by his animals and drunk driving.
When Iha and Chamberlin returned to Smashing Pumpkins, Wretzky gave a rare interview to Alternative Nation To say he had been called by Corgan to return, but the former colleague removed the invitation. Upon learning that, Billy said to Rolling Stone USA That the old musical partner was lying: the invitation occurred, but she did not respond, and the bassist’s presence on the tour would only be with special appearances in some shows. Since then, without further news.
+++ Read more: the madness of playing in Guns N ‘Roses in the 1990s, according to Matt Sorum
+++ Read more: the best bands of all time for Axl Rose
+++ Read more: How Freddie Mercury helped Brian May with her insecurities
+++ Read more: without Queen, with Queen: Brian May elects his most memorable show
+++ Read more: Jack White’s amazing message to Meg White on the 50th anniversary of the drummer
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+++ Follow journalist Igor Miranda @igormirandasite on Instagram
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
