3 Rock Bands That Actually Split at the Right Time

Music fans know. Some bands break up too soon, some hang on too long. But some split right on time. If a group has to break up, then it might as well do so at the right juncture, right? No reason to keep things going for the wrong reasons.

Here below, we wanted to highlight three groups from back in the day that actually were able to break up when it made the most sense. Indeed, these are three rock bands that actually split at the right time.

R.E.M.

When a rock band starts, it’s usually comprised of a bunch of friends. They want to make music with each other and, if it all works out, tour the world as a group. But sometimes a band like that has to break up in order to preserve their friendships. In many ways, that’s what happened with the Georgia-born rock group, R.E.M. The outfit split in 2011 amicably and under their own terms after the release of their final LP, the 2011 offering, Collapse Into Now. No bad blood, no regrets.

The Beatles

More than any group from the 1960s, The Beatles exemplified the decade. The band came into the mainstream music scene singing bubblegum rock songs about holding hands. Then by the time the era was over, they had beards, long hair, and they were singing about mystical fields of strawberries and Lucy flying through the sky. The Beatles were, like, four bands at once during their short tenure. And if they would have stayed together any longer into the 1970s, they all likely would have exploded. Anyone who saw the recent docu-series about the band, Get Back, witnessed it up front. They needed time away after all they’d been through as a unit.

Talking Heads

Some artists need more room to grow. They come up in a band, and after a handful of records, they decide that it’s time to try out new things. That’s just what happened with Talking Heads and their frontman David Byrne. The songwriter and performer left the group in the early 1990s to pursue new avenues. After eight albums, including the last one in 1988, Naked, Byrne went to find new inspirations and collaborators. And while it was sad to see Talking Heads split, with all that Byrne has done since, it would seem he made the right creative choice.

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