The lives of the rich and famous often seem glamorous, but all that glitters is not gold. Many end up having financial problems. It is true that there are many inspiring stories about highly regarded people who went from having nothing to making gold. However, sometimes, the reverse path is also traveled. Many legends have ended up going bankrupt.
Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf had huge success in the late ’70s starring in the classic’ Rocky Horror Picture Show ‘and releasing his hit album’ Bat Out of Hell ‘.But after that success, the singer faced financial problems and was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1983.
Ted Nugent
In 1980, Nugent was forced to file for bankruptcy due to his financial being mismanaged by his managers make bad decisions after bad decisions.
Marvin Gaye
Gaye is known to be one of the most famous musicians of all time. But in 1976 he declared bankruptcy after falling behind in paying alimony to his first wife, Anna Gordy Gaye.
David Crosby
After achieving success with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nass, David Crosby succumbed to a strong addiction to cocaine and heroin. In 1985, his behavior got out of control and he was arrested for possession of weapons and drugs. These events greatly affected his career and a few years later, Crosby had to file for bankruptcy.
Billy Joel
Being one of the most lucrative musicians of all time has not exempted Billy Joel from serious financial problems. Joel has filed for bankruptcy on several occasions. The most infamous of all was when one of his managers cheated him out of more than 30 million dollars. The singer sued his also friend for 90 million.
Leif Garrett
He was arrested for possession in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and received drug rehab orders multiple times. In 2001, Garrett filed for bankruptcy in Los Angeles, California.
George Clinton
The Father of Funk got swindled many times – despite being successful, he never really earned much due to bad deal or fraud by his record label and they also forced him to give up his own publishing rights.
Isaac Hayes
Hayes had to file for bankruptcy in 1976, claiming he owed $ 6 million in taxes. In 1977, he told Ebony magazine that his record label’s financial mismanagement, coupled with lavish spending and putting “too much trust in people,” led to bankruptcy.
Willie Nelson
Nelson evaded taxes and the IRS demanded payment of $ 16.7 million, including interest and penalties. His attorney negotiated with the agency to lower the amount to $ 6 million, but Nelson was still unable to pay. In 1990, the IRS repossessed his home and seized almost everything Nelson owned.
Jerry Lee Lewis
In addition to all the controversies that involved his life, Jerry Lee Lewis declared bankruptcy in 1988 with debts of more than 3 million dollars without any assets involved, something strange due to the high sales he had throughout his career .
Mick Fleetwood
In June 1984, English drummer Mike Fleetwood declared bankruptcy, who had not played for two years with one of the most prestigious world rock groups that he founded in the sixties: Fleetwood Mac.
Ron Isley
During the trial, prosecutors said that in the last three decades the singer evaded paying taxes many times and filed for bankruptcy after, in 1997, the IRS seized a yacht and some cars, among other properties.
Tom Petty
Petty had sold his first two albums and their corresponding singles very well, but with the papers in hand the company took most of the profits (he declared that he had signed “coerced and deceived”). And then he recorded and published another LP outside the record company, which denounced him and forced him to pay more than half a million, so he declared bankruptcy without actually being bankrupt; the bad thing is that the plaintiff forbade him even to act.
Harry Nilsson
His manager deceived him swindling over millions from Nilsson and left him $300 on his account that forced him to file for bankruptcy in 1994.