11 Band Members Who Totally Blew It

If only they could have held on for a little longer.

1. Pete Best (The Beatles)

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Before there was Ringo, there was... Pete. The Beatles' original drummer was dismissed just as they were recording their first demos with George Martin. Top wasn't moppy enough, clearly.

2. Stu Sutcliffe (The Beatles)

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The original bassist, also known as Hottest Beatle Ever. During the band's Hamburg days, Sutcliffe decided to quit the band to focus on painting. He got engaged to (similarly dreamy) photographer Astrid Kirchherr, but died suddenly from a brain aneurysm at 21.

3. Chad Channing (Nirvana)

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Channing played on Bleach but was booted during the Nevermind sessions. The naked baby from the cover became infinitely more famous.

4. Dave Mustaine (Metallica)

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Mustaine was the first lead guitarist in Metallica but was kicked out for being a boozy maniac as they were recording their first album Kill 'Em All. He went on to form the popular-but-not-quite-as-popular Megadeth.

5. Scott Raynor (Blink-182)

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A founding member and the original drummer, Raynor was kicked out of the band — supposedly for alcohol abuse — after touring for the band's sorta-breakthrough album Dude Ranch. The next album was 1999's Enema of the State, which sold several squillion copies.

6. Farrah Franklin (Destiny's Child)

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Right as "Say My Name" was blowing up, Franklin and Michelle Williams joined the group as they went on a massive tour and prepped the (similarly gigantic) album Survivor. Citing stress, Franklin left after only five months. Boat missed.

7. Vini Lopez (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band)

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Lopez drummed with Springsteen when his band was still called Steel Train, and with the E. Street Band on his first two albums as a solo artist. He was kicked out for fighting with Bruce's manager, though, right before Born To Run. Bummer.

8. Jack Irons (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

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Irons was a founding member and the original drummer, but left because the rampant hard drug culture of the early RHCP days made him queasy. He left in 1988. The band then sold a ton of records, wore penis socks and was elected to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Irons bonus fact: he was briefly Pearl Jam's drummer in the mid-'90s, but left because he couldn't handle the touring.

9. Baria Qureshi (The xx)

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Originally the band's guitarist and keyboard player, Qureshi — by alternating accounts — quit or was fired just months after their first album was released. After the split, the band was endlessly hyped, praised and generally slobbered-upon, eventually winning the Mercury Prize and being sampled by Rihanna.

10. Chuck Mosley (Faith No More)

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After going through a series of vocalists including Courtney Love (!), Chuck Mosley joined Faith No More and sang on their first two albums. When he was dumped and replaced with the now-legendary Mike Patton, their subsequent album The Real Thing was nominated for a Grammy.

Ya blew it, Chuck.

11. Mark Wahlberg (New Kids on the Block)

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Donnie recruited his brother for NKOTB, but he quit before they started recording their first album. And then we never heard from him again. The end.