The 6 Biggest Musician-Manager Feuds

Artists and their management teams don’t always see eye-to-eye on matters of creativity, which can lead to serious feuds between them, but which are the biggest musician-manager feuds the industry has seen? From fighting over royalties to family feuds, the celebrities on this list have had their fair share of drama, causing them to ultimately pull the plug on the partnerships with their managers.

It’s a common scenario for artists to start bickering with their management as soon as fame comes knocking. Why? Because managers play a tough role in the music business: keeping their client on track, polishing their image, and steering them clear of trouble. However, a controlling authority can rub free-spirited musicians the wrong way, leading to feuds and heated arguments. Surely some of the 9 most famous drummers of all time, which we covered in a previous article, also experienced tension with their representatives, but this list takes it further. The biggest musician-manager feuds resulted in public battles and lawsuits, so let’s see who pointed the finger, and who took the blame.

6. LeAnn Rimes

Firing your manager is always a difficult decision, but I imagine it must be devastating to make that decision as a teenager and when your father is involved. This was exactly the case with LeAnn Rimes, who went to court against daddy Wilbur Rimes and co-manager Lyle Walker in 2000. The country star claimed that her managers had swindled her out of $7 million over the course of a few years, by duplicating and increasing their fees. At the time, Rimes was only 17 and the betrayal struck her hard after her parents’ divorce, causing her to fire her management team.

It doesn’t get much more personal than that, but we have five more of the biggest musician-manager feuds coming up.  You’ll be shocked at some of the artists involved.