Music—specifically popular rock music—can have a polarizing effect on listeners. One fan's favorite band is the one another person detests most. As head-scratching as it may be, there are even people who hate the Beatles. That's because art is subjective by nature, so it's difficult to assess with an analytical or mathematical approach. But that didn't stop us from trying to do just that. At Best Life, we set out to use data to determine the most hated rock band of all time.
First, we scoured countless lists, message boards, and articles on the most hated bands to see which groups popped up the most frequently, eventually landing on the 21 bands on this list.
Once we had our list, we looked at five key metrics, from expert opinions to fan surveys. To start, we looked at LA Weekly's list of the top 20 worst bands of all time. Then we turned our attention to Vice's list of the 123 worst musicians of all time. Since the list was not ranked, if a band was on the list, it got points added to its score; if it wasn't, no points were added. Then we looked at the top 21 most overly hated bands according to Ultimate Guitar, a popular music and guitar instruction website. Finally, we used two polls from Ranker, the 102 most overrated bands and the 421 worst rock bands of all time.
We then assigned each metric a weighted value* before running them through our exclusive algorithm to see how each artist scored on our 100-point scale Hated Band Index. Read on to discover which group was deemed the most hated rock band of all time, based on the numbers. And for another kind of art people have strong opinions about, check out The Worst Movie of All Time, According to Critics.
*When a metric didn't apply, we marked it as "N/A" and adjusted the algorithm accordingly so that all bands were ranked fairly and accurately.
21 | Linkin Park
PhotoStock10/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists:N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 325
Hated Band Index: 0.00
20 | Spin Doctors
Sterling Munksgard/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: 20
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands:N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 193
Hated Band Index: 17.72
19 | Nirvana
by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc via Getty ImagesLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: 78
Ranker's worst rock bands: 398
Hated Band Index: 26.43
And for more entertainment people are delighted to detest, The Most Hated TV Couples of All Time.
18 | Rush
Harmony Gerber/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: 9
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 417
Hated Band Index: 40.59
17 | Pearl Jam
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock PhotoLA Weekly's worst bands: 7
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: 90
Ranker's worst rock bands: 311
Hated Band Index: 41.13
16 | Oasis
ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: 18
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 5
Ranker's most overrated artists: 42
Ranker's worst rock bands: 270
Hated Band Index: 43.51
15 | Korn
Tony Norkus/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: 20
Ranker's worst rock bands: 340
Hated Band Index: 46.78
14 | Metallica
A.RICARDO/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 6
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 339
Hated Band Index: 50.51
13 | The Doors
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: 100
Ranker's worst rock bands: N/A
Hated Band Index: 50.67
12 | Green Day
ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: 2
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 13
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 333
Hated Band Index: 52.56
11 | Coldplay
Andrea Raffin/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 12
Ranker's most overrated artists: 36
Ranker's worst rock bands: 158
Hated Band Index: 55.65
And for proof that people have just as strong of an opinion about where they eat, This Is the Most Hated Restaurant Chain in America.
10 | Dave Matthews Band
Photocarioca/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: 1
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 16
Ranker's most overrated artists: 22
Ranker's worst rock bands: 202
Hated Band Index: 56.44
9 | Kiss
Tony Norkus/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 10
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 205
Hated Band Index: 58.54
8 | Radiohead
ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: 80
Ranker's worst rock bands: N/A
Hated Band Index: 66.54
7 | Phish
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXMLA Weekly's worst bands: 17
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 103
Hated Band Index: 68.50
6 | Bob Dylan
ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: 85
Ranker's worst rock bands: 79
Hated Band Index: 73.65
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5 | Mumford and Sons
Marc D Birnbach/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: N/A
Ranker's most overrated artists: 17
Ranker's worst rock bands: 183
Hated Band Index: 74.29
4 | U2
ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: Yes
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 7
Ranker's most overrated artists: 34
Ranker's worst rock bands: 229
Hated Band Index: 75.46
3 | Creed
Randy Miramontez/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 4
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 94
Hated Band Index: 89.46
2 | Limp Bizkit
bahadir aydin/ShutterstockLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 2
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 101
Hated Band Index: 96.79
1 | Nickelback
Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesLA Weekly's worst bands: N/A
Vice's worst musicians: No
Ultimate Guitar's worst bands: 1
Ranker's most overrated artists: N/A
Ranker's worst rock bands: 106
Hated Band Index: 99.99
And for the metropolitan areas of the U.S. people like the least, This Is the Most Hated City in America.
