Sometimes an artist hates their own creation.
That’s certainly the case in the music industry — where numerous A-listers have admitted that they don’t like at least one of their iconic songs.
“Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus is a bop — but Cyrus herself wasn’t a fan of the anthem when it first came out.
The same goes for Madonna with two of her biggest hits, including “Like a Virgin.”
In some cases, these singers have refused to perform the song they don’t like in concert or at major events, such as the Grammy Awards.
Here are the musicians who openly hate their own song.
Miley Cyrus, “Party in the USA”
Cyrus, 32, didn’t write, or like, “Party in the U.S.A.”
“[‘Party in the U.S.A.’] is not even my style of music,” she said in an interview on her fan website in 2009. “I didn’t write it [and] I didn’t expect it to be popular, originally. It was just something that I wanted to do and I needed some songs and it turned out for the best.”
In 2019, after then-husband Liam Hemsworth covered the 2009 song in an Instagram video, Miley told her fans, “I hate it, but for some reason, the people love it.”
Madonna, “Like a Virgin”
Madonna, 66, trashed 1984’s “Like a Virgin” in a 2009 interview.
“For some reason, people think that when you go to a restaurant or you are going shopping that you want to hear one of your own songs. It’s usually ‘Like a Virgin’ — and that is the one I don’t want to hear,” she said.
The Queen of Pop felt the same about 1983’s “Holiday,” saying in the interview, “I’m not sure I can sing [those] ever again. I just can’t — unless somebody paid me like $30 million or something.”
Oasis, “Wonderwall”
Liam Gallagher from Oasis admitted that he “can’t f—ing stand” the band’s 1995 classic hit “Wonderwall.”
“I can’t f—ing stand that f—ing song! Every time I have to sing it, I want to gag,” he said in 2008. “Problem is, it was a big, big tune for us. You go to America, and they’re like: ‘Are you, Mr Wonderwall?’ You want to chin someone.”
Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant doesn’t have fond feelings about “Stairway to Heaven.”
“I’d break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show,” he shared in 1988. “I wrote those lyrics and found that song to be of some importance and consequence in 1971, but 17 years later, I don’t know. It’s just not for me.”
Lorde, “Royals”
Lorde’s 2013 debut single “Royals” was a hit with listeners — but not with her.
She once ripped into the “disastrous” song, saying, “I listen to people covering the song and putting their own spin on it — and I listen to it in every single form except the original one I put out — and I realize that actually it sounds horrible.”
“It sounds like a ringtone from a 2006 Nokia. None of the melodies are cool or good. It’s disastrous. Awful,” Lorde added.
Pink, “Don’t Let Me Get Me”
The song Pink hates performing most from her own catalog is 2002’s “Don’t Let Me Get Me,” which includes a Britney Spears mention.
“I wish I could burn that song and never sing it again,” Pink told the LA Times in 2012.
Lady Gaga, “Telephone”
Lady Gaga had an easy answer when asked what her “worst song” is in a 2011 interview.
“I hate ‘Telephone,” she said about her 2009 single that also features Beyoncé.
“Is that terrible to say? It’s the song I have the most difficult time listening to,” Gaga shared.
Queen, “Don’t Stop Me Now”
Queen lead guitarist Brian May didn’t appreciate “Don’t Stop Me Now” upon its release in 1979.
“I didn’t really take to it in the beginning. I didn’t feel totally comfortable with what Freddie [Mercury] was singing at the time,” May explained in 2021. “I found it a little bit too flippant in view of the dangers of AIDS and stuff.”
However, May noted, “But as time went on, I began to realize that it gave people great joy.”
Bruno Mars, “The Lazy Song”
Bruno Mars has no energy for “The Lazy Song” from his 2010 debut studio album.
In 2019, Mars tweeted, “When someone tells me they actually like The Lazy Song,” with a video of himself shaking his head and staring deadpan at the camera.