Trending badgeTrendingPosted 55 minutes agoSubscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret Down17 Singers And Rappers Who Were Poised To Make It HUGE - Then It Allllll Went Down The Drain"I went from being 'tragic waif ethereal victim' to being 'brat b**** loose cannon.'"by Hannah MarderBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink 1. Natalia Kills was slowly rising in fame over the early 2010s, opening for acts like Kesha, the Black-Eyed Peas, and Katy Perry, as well as featuring on an LMFAO song. Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images 2. Willy Moon was similarly rising in the music scene after going viral for his hit "Yeah Yeah." The two, who were married, both looked to be getting more notoriety with their first foray into reality television as judges on The X Factor New Zealand. Gvk / Getty Images However, in their very first live show, Kills and Moon made such cruel comments to a contestant that both of their careers were almost immediately ruined. After contestant Joe Irvine sang "Cry Me a River," Kills called Irvine out for dressing like Moon, with Moon joining in. The audience booed, and the other judges tried to step in, but they kept going. TV3 Natalia later issued an apology, saying, "A lot goes on behind the scenes of a reality TV show and [what] you see isn't always the whole story. ... I was encouraged to be outspoken, and things got out of hand. ... Joe, I hope you can forgive me and I wish you all the best!" but the damage was done. The duo was let go from the show after a viral petition to get them fired. Natalia did continue her career, but she changed her name and started a different band with Moon, which still has not released their debut album (though they do have an EP). Cindy Ord / Getty Images Natalia later called the whole ordeal "a publicity stunt resulting in a viral media storm" and said she couldn't say more due to a "wide-reaching legal gagging-order". 3. R&B duo Milli Vanilli reached worldwide fame in the late '80s with their debut album, leading them to win the award for Best New Artist at the 1990 Grammy Awards. However, their careers quickly took a nosedive when their producer Frank Farian revealed they didn't sing any of the album, which was confirmed by member Rob Pilatus. The Grammys swiftly revoked their award. Cbs Photo Archive / Getty Images The duo's swift decline is often attributed to a Club MTV live performance in 1989, where they were caught lip-synching, (Pilatus later admitted that the concert "was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli"), but they did continue to find success after the incident. Still, it led to them eventually being exposed as frauds. Pilatus and co-member Fab Morvan attempted a comeback in the early '90s, but the scandal followed them, and they were unable to gain traction. They attempted a second comeback in the late '90s, but Pilatus died in 1998, which ended that attempt. Morvan has continued to make music, even releasing a solo album, but is still best known for his time in Milli Vanilli. Ron Galella / Getty Images 4. Billy Squier skyrocketed to fame in the early 1980s, but by 1984, his career had taken a nosedive. Why? The blame lies with the music video for his song "Rock Me Tonite," which was so bad many claimed it singlehandedly tanked his career. Even Squier said so: "The video had a deleterious effect on my career. The tour before, I was selling out arenas faster than Sinatra, and as soon as that video came out, I was playing to half houses," he said in 2011, according to I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. Paul Natkin / Getty Images The song itself was a major hit, but the video - which mostly featured Squier dancing around in a bedroom, rolling on the floor, and ripping his shirt off - made people scratch their heads. "The video misrepresents who I am as an artist," Squier told the authors of I Want My MTV. "I was a good-looking, sexy guy. That certainly didn't hurt in promoting my music. But in this video, I'm kind of a pretty boy. And I'm preening around a room. People said, 'He's gay,' or 'He's on drugs.' It was traumatizing to me." Squier released multiple albums afterward, but none were as successful as his previous music had been. MTV / Via youtube.com You can watch the video here. 5. Vanilla Ice rose to fame incredibly quickly with "Ice, Ice, Baby" in 1990, but he attracted controversy just as quickly. First, reported details about his past (namely that he had a rough background) were proven false. His music was also criticized for being white-washed and "mainstream." Then, Jim Carrey parodied him on In Living Color, he had a disastrous appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, and he was the subject of a diss track by 3rd Bass. Finally, he starred in the panned film Cool as Ice, which effectively ended his movie career before it began. Ron Galella, Ltd. / Getty Images He then attempted a career in motocross and jet skiing, as well as in reality TV (where he found moderate success), and had multiple run-ins with th
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Critical 17 Singers And Rappers Who Were Poised To Make It HUGE - Then It Allllll Went Down The Drain
August 16, 2025
4 months ago
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