It being Valentines/Hate day and with the news of The White Stripes going their separate ways still fresh in our minds, we have decided to pick our top five band break ups for all the rejected singletons out there to rejoice in, and hey you were too good for them anyway, am I right? This may sound like a straight forward undertaking, but with the number of acts who have broken up, reunited, changed line up or lost a member we have had to set out two strict judging criteria.

Firstly, the band’s break up must not be directly due to the death of the lead singer, as we feel that losing your frontman is a perfectly acceptable reason to call it quits as often the lead singer defines a band’s sound and style. For this reason Joy Division, Nirvana and The Doors all get a free pass. That is not to say all bands call it quits after the death of their lead singer, Thin Lizzy are still touring over 20 years since Phil Lynott passed away and Paul Rodgers has tried to fill Freddy Mercury’s sizable shoes in Queen.

The other criteria is that if the band has permanently reformed since their break up, they are ineligible for the list. It seems like every year a band gets back together that had previously publicly stated their dislike for each other, but its funny how the lure of a big payday can change your opinion of someone. These reunions can result in touring the old hits like Fleetwood Mac and The Police, producing new material like Take That or replacing the original members of the band with session musicians and touring under the old name, like the Smashing Pumpkins. This category shows that time can be a great healer, with acts like The Pixes and Duran Duran returning to the live fold, but what we look for is a dedication in our break ups and bands that either collectively felt it was the right time to move on or acts that in the end truly despised each other enough to never consider getting back together.

Of course we can’t forget the many Irish bands who have gone their separate ways, huge international acts like The Cranberries who split in 2003 before feeling the pinch and getting back together in 2009. Bono’s mates The Virgin Prunes split in 1986, The Boomtown Rats choose 1986’s ‘Self Aid’ to call it quits and  indie darlings My Bloody Valentine spent ten years apart before reuniting in 2007. 1996 was the year that saw the rise of JJ72, who many thought would be the next in a long line of internationally renowned Irish acts, but sadly it wasn’t to be and they too parted ways in 2006.

On a more local scale, bands like Alphastates, Turn, Ten Speed Racer, The Chalets and The Revs have all disbanded with no reunion in sight, and acts like Delorentos have come perilously close to calling it quits. Its not all doom and gloom though, Whipping Boy and Kerbdog have given us hope that the local bands we once loved could yet again return to the stage. Now on to the list!

1. The Beatles

Year of Formation: 1960

Year of Breakup: 1970

Reason for Breakup: John Lennon got fed up with Paul McCartney, George Harrison felt under-appreciated and the band grew weary of the omnipresence of Yoko Ono.

Chance of Reforming: Eh, None. With John and George passing before their time we never got to see a Beatles reunion, of course Paul is still touring the world at the age of 68 and Ringo has numerous musical project but the best chance of a Beatles reunion comes in the form of the members offspring, many of whom have established themself as talented musicians in their own right.

2.Led Zeppelin

Year of Formation: 1968

Year of Breakup: 1980

Reason for Breakup: After a couple of underwhelming albums and problems with addiction, the final straw was death of John Bonham.

Chance of Reforming: The surviving members, Plant, Jones and Page, reunited for a one-off gig at London’s O2 venue in 2007, but with Robert Plant finding solo success, and Jones and Page busy with Them Crooked Vultures, it seems to be on the back burner for now, but there is definitely a chance that we might see Led Zeppelin reclaiming the throne of the biggest rock band in the world in the future.

3.Pink Floyd

Year of Formation: 1965

Year of Breakup: 1996

Reason for Breakup: Pink Floyd’s troubled route to breakup started with Rodger Waters declaring the band a “spent force” in 1985 and attempting through the courts to prevent the other members of the band to continue under the name of Pink Floyd without him. The case was settled in 1987 allowing David Gilmour and Nick Mason to continue to use the Pink Floyd name and Waters to leave the band. Gilmour and Mason released two more albums as Pink Floyd before stopping in 1996.

Chance of Reforming: Despite all the bad blood, Waters, Gilmour and Mason  played together at Live 8 in 2005 for the first time in 20 years. While many Pink Floyd fans hoped this would be the beginning of a reconciliation between the band members, it appears like it may be one-off. Waters and Gilmour argued about set arrangement and song composition and look destined to do work apart. There may be a few one-off reunions in the future but don’t expect Pink Floyd to reform any time soon.

4.The Smiths

Year of Formation: 1982

Year of Breakup: 1987

Reason for Breakup: Disagreements between Morrissey and Johnny Marr

Chance of Reforming: Despite numerous lucrative offers to reform, it looks like Morrissey and Marr are happier apart. Morrissey of course has a fairly successful post-Smiths solo career and Marr is now a permanent member of The Cribs and also toured with US indie rockers Modest mouse.

5. NWA

Year of Formation: 1986

Year of Breakup: 1991

Reason for Breakup: Ice Cube quit the band over a dispute over royalties in 1990, and then in 1991 Dr. Dre left to sign for Death Row Records, claiming Eazy-E signed away Ruthless Records’ Artists contracts for publishing rights, with Dre’s departure the group was more or less finished.

Chance of Reforming: As was custom with gangsta rap, the disgruntled former members of NWA traded verbal blows on their records in the years following the breakup, which continued until 1995 when founding member Easy-E died from an aids-related illness. Dr Dre and Ice cube have of course gone on to establish themselves as multi-platinum solo artists since NWA and the other former members MC Ren, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince have all found various forms of individual success, so the likelihood of a NWA reunion is more or less non-existent.