3 Musicians Who Reportedly Smelled Bad
Musicians build their reputations on their art, which means that they can sometimes get away with rude behavior, outlandish styles, and, in the case of these three artists, smelling bad. Here are three talented musicians who have caused people to complain about their odor.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s longtime road manager Victor Maymudes dealt with a lot while working with the musician. When their working relationship crumbled, Maymudes aired some of his grievances about Dylan. These included rude behavior, like blowing cigarette smoke in people’s faces or refusing to answer questions. He also had problems with Dylan’s hygiene.
“He doesn’t take his clothes off when he goes to sleep and the guy doesn’t clean his teeth,” Maymudes said, per the book Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan by Howard Sounes. “He’ll smell like a f***ing hog. Horrible breath.”
Joni Mitchell, who spent a good deal of time with Dylan, agreed with the sentiment. She said that she didn’t like sharing a microphone with him because of it.
“On the third night they stuck Bob at the mic with me and that’s the one that went out on tape,” she said, per the book Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now by Brian Hinton. “And if you look closely at it, you can see the little brat, he’s up in my face — and he never brushes his teeth, so his breath was like … right in my face — and he’s mouthing the words at me like a prompter, and he’s pushing me off the mic.”
Jim Morrison
Those close to The Doors’ Jim Morrison noted that when he was using drugs or focusing on writing, his bathing habits tended to slip.
“He wasn’t washing much, and sometimes smelled bad,” Stephen Davis wrote about a period in 1969 in the book Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend.
In the book, Davis noted more than once that Morrison sometimes smelled.
“After an eternity, Jim opened the door,” Davis wrote, describing a moment before a concert. “He was wearing his underpants and a pair of hand-tooled cowboy boots. He didn’t smell good.”
Mick Fleetwood
Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood had a custom-made tour outfit that he wore to stand out onstage.
“I really wanted a costume that stood out when I played gigs. It had to be original, not too hot to play in, and cheap,” he wrote for Express. “I still had my school gym kit and fencing gear. I wore the knickerbockers, tore the sleeves off the jacket to make a waistcoat, put my gym shoes on. That was the start of my stage costume, captured on the iconic Rumours cover, and I’ve worn some version of that ever since.”
He liked the costume so much that he wore it to most performances, often without watching it. Bandmate Stevie Nicks said that after so much use, it began to smell.
“Mick’s got his velvet knickers and the same tights and the same shoes he’s worn for a hundred years,” she told Creem in 1982, per The Nicks Fix. “You wouldn’t want to be within 50 feet of him in that outfit, especially the next night when he’s put it back on after it’s been in the bus all day and never dried!”
