Top 10 Music Artists Who are the Biggest Sellouts

When artists start out in one genre and then sell out so they can make it on the charts, it causes quite a stir.

Let's discuss these artists who made this controversial decision.

The Top Ten

Metallica

Metallica is an American heavy and thrash metal band formed in 1981. The original lineup included James Hetfield (vocals and rhythm guitar), Dave Mustaine (lead guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), and Ron McGovney (bass). They first gained mainstream fame with their 1991 self-titled album (The Black Album... read more

They were one of the top metal bands around back in the 80s, but now they are just remembered for what they did in that decade. If Metallica had stuck to its roots, it would still be on top and might even be considered the greatest metal band of all time. They are either considered the greatest metal band of all time or the second greatest to Iron Maiden.
From the Black Album onwards, they have sold out. If they had stuck to their thrash roots, they probably would have come out with albums just as good, if not better, than their first four albums.

For me, it's when they released the Load album. This album, and every other album after it, is nothing more than either alternative or hard rock. Death Magnetic tries, but falls short, in my opinion. Why is Metallica alienating their fan base? Change your image back to thrash metal. Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax don't seem to have an issue with it.
Maroon 5

Maroon 5 is an American pop and pop‑rock band formed in Los Angeles, California. The group originally came together in 1994 under the name Kara's Flowers, when Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden, and Ryan Dusick were still in high school. They self‑released a demo and a studio album before... read more

"The Adam Levine Experience" is a much more fitting name. Whatever happened to this band, I find it difficult to understand. Adam Levine is quite the egotist, following fame and money at this point. He's a famous celebrity, known for being in "The Voice" and has a well-documented personal life. Hardly anybody knows about any of the other band members. It's almost sad how I tend to pity them somewhat, as they can't even display much of their talent.
Maroon 5, or rather, The Adam Levine Experience, was a pretty solid band. Now, they've become the poster boy for the term "sell-out", and many notable music fans and critics understandably dislike the band for this. If anything, blame Adam for all this.
X Japan

X Japan is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in Chiba in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki Hayashi (known as Yoshiki) and lead vocalist Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama. Originally called X, they pioneered the visual kei movement, combining elaborate visuals with heavy metal and ballads.... read more

Especially after the reunion, they became a pop band.
Kiss

Kiss, often stylized as KISS, was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973. The original members were Paul Stanley (vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals, bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar, vocals), and Peter Criss (drums, vocals). Known for their face paint and elaborate stage... read more

I Was Made for Lovin' You is their crappy (but very listenable) attempt at disco - at least, that's what my parents have said.
But after listening to their earlier stuff myself, I agree. A LOT.

How are these guys not in the top 10? Kiss has sold out in pretty much every single way possible.
Why is Nirvana on this list? The over-merchandising of Nirvana started after Kurt's death, and everything about "In Utero" is far from selling out. It's the exact opposite.

Pushing KISS merchandise on talk shows has only served one purpose: telling the world how much Gene Simmons has sold out.
Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy is an American pop punk band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley.... read more

They definitely started to sell out once Save Rock and Roll came out, straying away from the good sound. Once Mania hit, that was the definition of a sellout. Hear for yourself and you'll see why.

The albums following the first breakup feel a lot less genuine than the earlier ones. Mania was an album that didn't need to be made, and the Billy Joel cover? Why does that exist?

They definitely sold out. Compare songs like Sugar, We're Goin Down to pop rock garbage like Centuries or My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark.
Gwen Stefani

Gwen Renée Stefani (born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She is a co-founder and the lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl" and "Don't Speak" from their 1995 breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom, as well as "Hey Baby... read more

An unfortunate example of a true sellout. I understand that not everyone is super talented. I understand you only have so many songs in you. But I'd rather fade into rock obscurity with a couple of great tunes under my name than prop myself up with a bunch of cookie-cutter, pop garbage just to stay famous. 1995 Gwen wouldn't even recognize herself today.

Okay, now this person is actually a sellout, and not Tom DeLonge. She gave up her band No Doubt, which is Ska Punk, in order to become a pop artist and become more popular. She doesn't put passion in her pop music, meaning she did sell out. When someone does not even put passion into something, just doing it for fame, that is big-time selling out.
The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas is an American musical group originally consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and singer Fergie.
They achieved global success with hits like Where Is the Love?, I Gotta Feeling, and Boom Boom Pow. Since Fergie's departure in 2017, more recent releases have featured... read more

The Black Eyed Peas are a group who have sold out, not once but twice. Originally, they were a supposedly legitimate band with respect in the hip hop community. Then Fergie joined, and they became a pretty good pop band for a while.
However, when I Gotta Feeling came along, they lost any semblance of identity to become generic, soulless pop-dance music that occupies the charts these days. Thankfully, they went on hiatus before they steeped too much further in that part of their career, clearly due to diminishing returns. When they inevitably reunite, they should hopefully return to what they originally were, but the chances of that are sadly slim. They are a sellout in every sense of the word.
Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter, born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania. She developed a strong interest in country music around the age of nine after watching a Faith Hill documentary. Swift moved to Nashville as a teenager and, after signing with RCA Records, began... read more

What happened in Reputation, I won't understand. She has great songs throughout most of her country 2006 - 2010 discography, and there are standouts in Red and 1989. Reputation, on the other hand, just falls flat and is really disappointing. You know, she's making a diss song of sorts, yet it's also the same woman who sung about a boy who passed away from Neuroblastoma. Damn it!

Yeah, there are bands and artists on here who made little change and are called sellouts, like U2 and Green Day (who really just evolved their sound and experimented with different subgenres). On the other hand, you have Taylor Swift, who literally went from country music to pop music, all because she wanted more attention and mainstream success. This artist makes Green Day's transition from punk rock to alternative rock less noticeable.
Nickelback

Nickelback is a Canadian post-grunge band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Canada. The band consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adair.... read more

They sold out before anyone actually heard of them. Their first album, The Curb, was heavy and their newer stuff is very poppy. I wish they could go back to not always singing about sex, partying, and all that.

Who remembers their album Curb? No one, since their fans love their new poppy music. Like with Metallica, they were heavy and changed by money to make themselves softer.

How could anyone forget them? Apparently, they had a grunge sound at the beginning, and then decided to go all radio-friendly with their later albums.
Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Provo, Utah, now based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band's lineup includes lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee, and touring drummer Andrew Tolman.... read more

The early 2010s were an era where pop unleashed its worst, and an album like Night Visions was like a breath of fresh air.
Years later, they make Believer, which is so atrocious not even having Dolph Lundgren in the music video can redeem it.

A movie soundtrack for every film and poppy, meaningless songs are being released instead of the great ones from their first album.

I've always hated this band with a passion, but they somehow find ways to get worse over time.

The Newcomers

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Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Their most critically acclaimed period is widely considered to be from 1983 to 1989, during which they released landmark albums like Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Somewhere... read more

They sold out by refusing to pass the torch to newer bands. Dickinson brags about being a dinosaur, and that's what led Senjutsu to be defeated by Drake on the charts.
If you let Drake humiliate you, you really mess up big time.
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Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac is a British-American rock band formed in July 1967 in London. The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music acts of all time. Their 1977 album Rumours is one of the best-selling albums ever, with over 40 million copies sold globally... read more

Fleetwood Mac started as a blues-rock band formed by Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. During the Peter Green era, they played mostly blues-rock which included "Black Magic Woman" and "Oh Well". After Peter Green left, Fleetwood Mac had The Bob Welch Era which is most likely forgotten...but it was 1975 when Fleetwood Mac would acquire Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham and by then, Fleetwood Mac's blues era is only known to blues-rock musicians.

The Contenders

Coldplay

Coldplay is a British rock band formed in 1996. The group includes Chris Martin (lead vocals, piano), Jonny Buckland (lead guitar), Guy Berryman (bass), and Will Champion (drums, backing vocals). Their manager, Phil Harvey, is often referred to as the unofficial fifth member.... read more

For the older fans, Coldplay is that kid you used to be friends with and go to school with. They were shy and gawky, but at least they were friendly and honest. Unfortunately, they secretly wanted very badly to fit in and be liked.
To this end, at some point during summer vacation, that kid starts hanging out with the wrong crowd, eventually reinventing themselves. By the time you see them again, they're a completely different person. Now, they hang out with the cool kids and want nothing to do with you. That's Coldplay.
You know a musician has sold their soul to the devil when they have collaborated with the likes of Kanye West, Rihanna, Beyonce, and Jay Z.
David Bowie

David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie (January 8, 1947 - January 10, 2016), was an English singer born in London, the son of a sales promotion officer and a housewife.
He earned praise for his experimental and creative music, winning numerous awards and gaining admiration from... read more

Okay, so his late 80s to 90s stuff was very much him selling out, but he came back with The Next Day and Blackstar, which are two of his finest works.
30 Seconds to Mars

Thirty Seconds to Mars (stylized as 30 Seconds to Mars) is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1998. The band currently consists of brothers Jared and Shannon Leto.
They released their first album, 30 Seconds to Mars, in 2002. It was a self-titled album with... read more

I just watched them perform on the late show and my god... what the hell is this? Electric drums, no distorted guitars or powerful vocals? They're just another Chainsmokers knock off. Complete loss of identity.

They went from borderline metal to electronic, techno. They're all talented, but they cover up that talent with awful dance beats. Up in the Air is a perfect example.

They went from a very nicely produced space prog rock concept album to absolute trash. In my opinion, this is the most stark sellout on this list.
Snoop Dogg

Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known as Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and television personality from Long Beach, California. He first achieved fame in 1992 on Dr. Dre's debut solo single Deep Cover and the album The Chronic. Snoop has since sold over... read more

I'm seriously surprised how no one talks about Snoop Dogg selling out, just like they do with Metallica selling out. Snoop started collaborating with artists like Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Jason Derulo, and PSY, and promoting rappers like Wiz Khalifa and Far East Movement. He even guest-starred on "Big Time Rush!"
Besides all that, he hasn't been himself either. Right now, he's trying to be a wannabe Rastafarian, even calling himself "Snoop Lion."
Snoop really has changed. He's in his 40s now, so he should just retire already. He was a gangster back then, but now he's a joke that's not funny.

In my opinion, he should be number 1. He started promoting terrible rappers like Far East Movement and Wiz Khalifa. And he started rapping with a lot of terrible artists (Lil Wayne, Miley Cyrus, Big Time Rush, Jason Derulo, Psy, Soulja Boy, Katy Perry, the list goes on). He even said that Lil Wayne is dope!
How is this guy not higher?! He really is one of the biggest sellouts in music history! Really!
Panic! at the Disco

Panic! at the Disco was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004. The band was originally a four-piece but later became a solo project led by Brendon Urie. At the time of its disbandment in 2023, the group featured touring members including Dan Pawlovich, Nicole Row, and Mike Naran... read more

It becomes pretty obvious after Vices and Virtues that Brendon Urie abandoned the good sound that Panic! at the Disco had just to be famous and sell out with Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die, and the pop music on it. It was apparent in Vices and Virtues as well, but at least not that much to the point where there's still a lot of their sound in it. Now, it's all pop garbage that is not the Panic sound that made them.

I have to admit that they did kind of sell out, although they're still enjoyable either way.
Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart is a British rock singer-songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. Stewart has sold over 250 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once as a solo artist and once as a member of Faces.
Genesis

Genesis was an English rock band formed at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey, in 1967. The band's most commercially successful and longest-running lineup consisted of keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford, and drummer/singer Phil Collins. In the 1970s, the group also included... read more

Sadly, I think they had the biggest drop in quality in music. If we take Metallica for example, The Black Album, Load, and Reload are good albums (even great in the case of The Black Album) just not Thrash Metal. St. Anger and Lulu sucked, but those were uncommercial experiments. And they did return to form with Hardwired & Death Magnetic.
However, I do feel that people are being too hard on Phil Collins. A Trick of the Tail & Wind and Wuthering are as great as the Peter Gabriel albums. And Then There Were Three & Duke are also good, though Steve Hackett's exit did hurt them, and Phil's side project Brand X is awesome. I blame the 80s.

After Gabriel's departure, Genesis became the worst sellouts in rock history. They discarded the quirkiness that made them somewhat interesting in favor of a massive pop bland-out.
They were only pretending to be artists but were completely sincere about being soulless shills, chasing the bucks by producing pablum for dummies. "Trick of the Tail" sounded so awful after "Lamb," I not only gave up on Genesis, but I also permanently gave up on all commercial rock.
I wasn't happy again until Punk came around. And whenever I think of Genesis these days, I think of Judas. I can't help it.
Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1985. The classic lineup, signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. In addition to hard rock, they are also... read more

With every member that left Guns N' Roses, they took a bit of talent with them. I hated Chinese Democracy, and it is nothing like Appetite For Destruction.
Chicago

Chicago is an American rock band that formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. In 1968, they initially performed under the name Chicago Transit Authority before shortening it to Chicago in 1969. The band described themselves as a "rock and roll band with horns" and gained fame for their unique blend of rock... read more

They are the Maroon 5 of the '80s. They define sellout. They used to have unique rock music with brass instruments in the '70s, but in the '80s, they became a sappy ballad band. However, in my country, people think of them as just a ballad band.

As far as I'm concerned, Chicago was the first sellout in the history of popular music. They went from making solid progressive rock songs in the 70s to putting out the same whiny ballad in the 80s.

"If You Leave Me Now" made them the second-biggest sellouts of the 1970s.
U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk and gradually evolved to incorporate elements of alternative rock, electronic, and pop music. Known for their anthemic sound and use... read more

U2 are the very definition of 'sellout'. They don't care what they do as long as there's a nice cheque.

Like the Bugatti Veyron. Great, just not likeable.

U2 was the biggest rock'n'roll ticket in the '80s, with many good albums and the classic The Joshua Tree. They made no compromise with Achtung Baby and the ZOO T.V. tour, and then they took a hit with Pop, which was still good but too provocative for the USA. Subsequently, they chickened out and changed into a caricature of themselves, morphing into the U2 corporation: singing for presidents (whom they made fun of in the '90s), CEOs, and other so-called elites. They produced pop tunes with censored lyrics (like how Native Son becomes the idiotic Vertigo), with a few good songs here and there. However, these were washed away, and so far from the ideals and righteousness they once stood for. The real, good songs they now just jukebox for money. This was the ultimate betrayal of the fans who made them what they were up to the end of the '90s.
Jefferson Starship
Heart

Heart is an American rock band that first found success in Canada before breaking through in the United States and internationally. Formed in the 1970s, the band is fronted by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. Heart is known for hits like Barracuda, Magic Man, and Alone.

Heart's self-titled album was a huge sellout. I'm a fan of that album. I just don't care if the sisters hated the uncomfortable corsets they were wearing, especially Ann.
Santana

Santana is an American Latin rock band that was formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967. The band was founded by Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana. Known for fusing rock and Latin American music, Santana achieved worldwide fame with their performance at Woodstock and their 1999 album Supernatural... read more

Ever since Santana made an unlikely comeback in 1999 with "Smooth" and the Supernatural album (which probably should've been named "Superficial"), he definitely sold out on the albums that followed. He sounded like the guest of his own show, and his guitar wailing alongside vocal guests even became as unbearable as a baby crying or shrieking in a public place. Santana's sellout story is one for the ages that very few people mention these days.
OneRepublic

OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2002 by lead singer Ryan Tedder and guitarist Zach Filkins. The band gained early attention and success on Myspace as an unsigned act. Their debut single, Apologize, became a major hit after being remixed by Timbaland.
Green Day

Green Day are an American pop punk and punk rock band formed in East Bay, California, in 1987. The core members are Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass), and Tré Cool (drums), with Jason White often performing live on guitar. They blend punk rock, pop punk, and alternative rock, drawing... read more

They went from songs like Jaded, Take Back, and Geek Stink Breath to Wake Me Up When September Ends and Last Night on Earth. Generic pop songs. At least in the last three albums, they weren't aiming for money.

Look at them in the '80s, and now look at them. They didn't sell out too much, but their music changed drastically, and they are getting closer to being sellouts with each release.

They should be a lot higher. Warning sucked, then I gained back my respect for them once American Idiot came out, and after that they sucked and still do.