20 unforgettable rivalries from the music world

First off, "rivalry" might be too strong a word to describe the competition that these two iconic British bands enjoyed — especially during the 1960s. Now, there are plenty of accounts that detail how respectful the bands have been toward each other, and that it was the media and respective fan bases who tended to raise the temperature as to "which band is better." Even today, that argument remains a great conversation piece over drinks, and worthy of inclusion here — with the caveat, of course, that we know the Beatles and Stones actually liked, and do like, each other.

While the Beatles and Stones weren't true rivals, the latter's legendary guitarist Richards has never been shy of voicing his opinion — positive or negative — about other fellow legends, including Sir Elton. It's hard to say what initially sparked the feud between the two icons, but back in 1988, Richards referred to Elton as a “lovely bloke, but posing.” That didn't sit well with John, and neither did Richards' displeasure with John's reworking of "Candle in the Wind 1997." In addition, John didn't find Richards' mocking of Stones bandmate Mick Jagger's genitalia in his autobiography Life particularly amusing or appropriate. Over the last decade, though, the two have apparently ironed things out to the point of being cordial to one another.

Metal fans likely know the history with Mustaine, the former Metallica guitarist who was kicked out of the band before it released the Kill 'Em All debut due to aggressive drinking and substance abuse, anger issues and repeated clashes with bandmates. And even though he went on to achieve success with his own band Megadeth — though not to the heights Metallica has reached — Mustaine seemed to still harbor resentment toward his former band. Metallica's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich have never publicly spoken negatively about Mustaine, but his comments suggest he has still remained bitter. While things might seem rosy between the camps these days, one wonders if Mustaine is still jealous?

Both were famed Van Halen frontmen, and fans of the band tend to be in one camp or the other. Now, the two were always going to be compared, but the outgoing Roth often chided Hagar's stage work and time with Van Halen. And, while Hagar and Roth did team up for a 2002 tour, where they both performed solo sets (resulting in both financial success and personal disaster), the former usually took the high road, but he's made no bones that he wouldn't team with Roth when the idea of a Van Halen reunion, with both singers, was ever broached. Of course, Roth's pompous nature played a big part in the feud, as well. 

The media certainly drove this lukewarm feud between superstar female performers. Houston was already an established star in 1990, when Carey burst onto the scene with her self-titled smash debut record, which sold five million more copies than Houston's I’m Your Baby Tonight. Now, Houston made waves during an interview when asked by Carey, and she responded “What do I think of her? I don’t think of her.” Yet, that was essentially the extent of any beef. As years went on, the two, who collaborated on the tune “When You Believe," poked fun at any rift. Following Houston's death in 2012, Carey was crushed by the loss of her friend.

The gist of this feud seemed to stem from the fact that White felt the Black Keys (made up of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney), were trying to copy his music. Of course, the duo denied any such allegations, but that didn't stop White from continuing to show his disdain for the guys. The feud has generally been relegated to interview snippets and social-media barbs, but according to Rolling Stone, Carney claimed White tried to physically fight him at a New York City bar in 2015. Since then, however, Carney and White appeared to have buried the hatchet. 

This is a quite a complex and all-encompassing feud. The Queens-based rappers have dissed each other in rhyme, and there have also been various in-person confrontations. One notable altercation reportedly went down in Atlanta, where 50 allegedly attacked Ja Rule with a bat, which the latter was able to wrestle away before it could be used or fists could be thrown. Eventually, the feud simmered down when Ja Rule's record label Murder Inc. was shuttered after being indicted for racketeering, and he himself landed in jail for gun possession and tax evasion in the early 2010s.

The gist of this particular feud was that Kurt Cobain didn't want Nirvana to turn into GNR, believing the latter became corporate with the Use Your Illusion releases. Also, GNR frontman Axl Rose apparently took issue with the drug-heavy lifestyle of Cobain and wife Courtney, referring to the couple as 'junkies'. The followup included various verbal confrontations between the parties at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, the same event where, after Nirvana performer a raucous rendition of "Lithium," drummer Dave Grohl grabbed the mic while the leaving the stage and chirped "Axl! Axl! Where’s Axl? Hi, Axl!”

More from Elton John. And, not the last time we'll highlight Madonna on this list. It started in the early 2000s, when Elton had some disparaging words for Madonna's "Die Another Day" single, which served as the theme for the James Bond movie of the same name. Then, at the 2004 Q Awards, John accused Madonna of lip syncing. Madonna, in turn, refused an invitation to perform at his bachelor party. But aside from that snub, the Queen of Pop never retaliated via words, at least not publicly, and eventually the two legends patched things up.

While the Mariah-Whitney feud didn't have much substance, Carey's ill will toward J.Lo seems to be the real thing, or at least it comes off that way. During a 2000 interview, Carey claimed she didn't know Lopez, who was on the way to making a name for herself as a singer and actress. It's a refrain that, reportedly, Carey has continued to use throughout her career, as Lopez has become a versatile superstar entertainer. And as for J.Lo's response, she's generally taken Carey's apparent indifference toward her in stride. At least in public.

These two central figures of female empowerment have had their issues over the years dating back to the early 1990s, when Cher gave an interview and called Madonna "mean," "rude" and a "spoiled brat." Though it seemed the two icons made up years later and were on good terms, Madonna ran an on-stage video of Cher making those comments during her 2023-24 "Celebration Tour." While speculation was raised that the two were still feuding, Cher continues to praise Madonna and maintains that there is "no beef," but also stands behind the comments and is far from apologetic. 

Like it or not, Gaga will always be compared to Madonna. It's a product of the media, but also quite obvious to the public at large, as these two empowered female entertainers are superstars of their own generations. However, when Gaga released "Born This Way" in 2011, fans and critics believed it was influenced by Madonna's "Express Yourself," from 1989. Madonna, in turn, called the song "reductive." Lady Gaga, meanwhile, said she admired Madonna, but did not need to take from her catalog, and if the Queen of Pop had a problem then she should have addressed it one-on-one with Gaga herself. At the moment, though, it appears the two icons are cordial towards each other.

They were two of the biggest musical stars to ever perform, and both arrived at the peak of their success at the same time. Prince's mainstream success ignited with 1999, from September 1982. But a month later, Jackson released Thriller, which set the pop music world and pop culture into a new stratosphere. Prince would then follow with his own legendary record in Purple Rain. And, while the two are undisputed icons, Prince seemed to have more issues with his contemporary rival than Jackson did. There are stories of competitive ping-pong matches and basketball games between the two, Prince playing a slap bass in Jackson's face or refusing a duet invitation on MJ's "Bad" single. Jackson allegedly called Prince "mean." However, the saddest part of all this is that both are gone.

Since late 2010, the Nicki Minaj-Lil' Kim feud has grown nasty at times. From the beginning, Kim accused Minaj of copying her rap style on the latter's 2010 debut Pink Friday. From there, the two did most of their indirect trash talking through diss tracks, keeping the popular rap tradition alive. While Minaj claimed Kim had a problem with many female rappers/hip hop artists, Kim responded by directly calling out Minaj on the Black Friday mixtape album. As of 2025, it doesn't appear the stars have officially called a truce.

When it comes to deliciously intense music rivalries between two bands, Oasis' hatred for Blur, and vice versa, still reigns supreme. At the heart of the battle between the Britpop giants in the 1990s was the two competing over who could sell more albums and have more No. 1 singles. Essentially it was brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher often spouting off at Blur's Damon Albarn and Alex James. At one point, Noel Gallagher told The Observer, “I hope they catch AIDS and die.” As time passed, the hatred cooled as both bands disappeared from the limelight, to the point that Noel and Albarn have grown friendly with each other.

Before Lil' Kim and Nicki Minaj were at each other's lyrical throats, Kim and Foxy Brown turned professional competition into a dislike of superstar proportion. Both hailing from Brooklyn and getting their careers going at the same time, Kim and Brown collaborated early. But after their debut records were released within a week of each other in November 1996, the comparisons, and ultimately, the feuding officially began. Things got ugly at times, though the belief is that the media, critics and each rapper's entourage played a major role in the feud, which played out in their respective music and during interviews. While Kim, who served time in prison, doesn't speak of Brown, the latter has rarely let up on dissing the former.

The bookend of this feud is that Katy and Taylor began as friends and apparently are back in each other's good graces. The rift, reportedly, began after Swift was upset when some of her backup dancers jumped ship to perform with Perry. Swift's 2014 single "Bad Blood" was speculated to be about Perry, who essentially called Swift a "mean girl." Swift's 2017 "Look What You Made Me Do," called out a host of her apparent enemies, including Perry. Over the years, though, the icy state of their friendship has thawed, with Perry attending Swift's Eras Tour performance in Australia in 2024.

Established in 2013, the Drake-Kendrick Lamar beef is still going strong. Props to longevity. It allegedly started with Lamar calling out Drake, among others, on his guest verse on the Big Sean track "Control." Though Lamar denied he meant anything mean toward his contemporary, the two have essentially traded lyrical barbs over the years. However, in May 2024, Lamar accused Drake of being a pedophıle (among other devastating barbs) on the Grammy Award-winning track "Not Like Us," the knockout blow in rapid exchange of diss tracks between the two rap superstars. Drake later sued for defamation, only adding more fuel to the rivalry, but Lamar walked away the victor after a nasty affair.

You know it's going to be a good one when a feud begins for all the world to see. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye infamously stormed the stage during Swift's acceptance speech for the Best Female Video speech, grabbing the microphone. West's outburst was apparently in protest that Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” should have won. It was on from there. President Barack Obama called West a "jɑckass," and Swift has long been rattled from the event. Things appeared to warm between the two, until West's single "Famous," which seemed derogatory toward Swift, who, in turn, got some indirect revenge via the aforementioned "Look What You Made Me Do."

Once friends with New York City roots, there is not an uglier or more tragic music feud than that of Tupac and Biggie. It started in November 1994, after Shakur was robbed and shot multiple times in the lobby of a New York City recording studio where Big and his crew were also cutting tracks. Shakur thought that Biggie might have been known about the crime beforehand, and took it to a new level of accusation after hearing B.I.G.'s “Who Shot Ya?” Though Biggie denied the track had anything to do with Tupac's shooting, the latter put out the infamous “Hit ‘Em Up" in response, and followed with other tracks dissing Biggie and anyone affiliated with him. The grim finale to the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud of the '90s, this portion of the infamous spat sadly ended in September 1996, when Tupac was fatally gunned down in Las Vegas. Biggie was killed in a drive-by shooting the next year in Los Angeles.