History Main / RockersSmashGuitars

* Downplayed in the original ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. At his (future) parents' prom in 1955, Marty [=McFly=] gets so carried away with a screaming guitar solo that he kicks over an amplifier. He stops short upon realizing that everyone else in attendance (including the band he's sitting in with) has stopped enjoying this new sound and is staring at him in utter shock.

* Bill Hunt of English glam rock band Wizzard would smash up pianos during shows. According to bassist Rick Price in a radio interview, "At one gig they said, 'Oh, go on, smash it up; it's only worth a fiver.' So Bill smashed it up, and we got a bill for a hundred and ten quid!"

-->I used to have a red guitar
-->Till I smashed it one drunk night
-->Smashed it in the classic form
-->As Peter Townshend might
-->Threw it on the fireplace
-->I left it there awhile
-->Kate she started crying
-->When she saw my sorry smile

* Second only to The Who are Music/NineInchNails. During their first tours in support of ''Pretty Hate Machine'' and ''Broken'', [[IAmTheBand Trent Reznor]] and his early touring bands were a madhouse onstage, playing with a reckless intensity that matched the chaotic industrial metal sound. Needless to say, when there were equipment failures, Trent and company didn't take it very well, and they drew attention because they would attack ''all'' their instruments, not just guitars. Trent Reznor would frequently use his footwear to smash off the keys of very expensive Yamaha DX synthesizers. At one point, ''ten guitars'' were being wrecked per night. [[HairTriggerTemper Trent Reznor, everybody.]]
** During one interview he reportedly said "any malfunctioning instrument is mocking you, so it needs to be destroyed."

* Music/{{Nirvana}} were well known for this. Kurt Cobain would actually have a stash of cheaply made, low-quality guitars for this purpose. When you saw him switch to the cheap Stratocaster copy, you could tell that instrument wasn't going to make it to the end of the show.
** You can hear Kurt Cobain destroy his guitar midway through "Endless, Nameless" on ''Music/{{Nevermind}}''. Another example would be their performance of the aforementioned song at the Paramount Theatre in 1991, where Kurt just goes psychotic and smashes microphones down and even a cooling fan with his guitar, breaking the guitar in half and leaving bassist Krist Novoselic to play 'baseball' with the parts using his bass. Viewers of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' and in the UK, the Jonathan Ross Show, both got to see this trope in action when they played "Territorial Pissings" as musical guests.
** On the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, Krist Novoselic threw his bass guitar up in the air instead of smashing it, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8oT9ag631Q and when it came down it hit him in the head]]. Stunned, he wandered off stage, only to have Kurt Cobain kick him in the ass for leaving early -- he hadn't seen the accident. It inspired the John Hiatt song "Perfectly Good Guitar" (see Music, above).

[[folder:Web Comics]]

See the real life folder for it happening on stage.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Luna has done this several times with her guitar.
** A flashback in "Hand-Me-Downer" shows Luna smashing her guitar offscreen and then giving it to Lincoln as a "hand-me-down".
--->'''Luna:''' [[Music/TheBeatles All it needs is love. Love it all it needs.]]
--->'''Lincoln:''' And strings. And a neck. And a body.
** In "The Loudest Yard," she does this after her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" on guitar while dressed like Music/JimiHendrix.
** Parodied in "Driving Ambition", wherein Luna smashes a harp after playing it in a fancy concert.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', a flashback shows Luna smashing her guitar offscreen and then giving it to Lincoln as a "hand-me-down".
-->'''Luna:''' [[Music/TheBeatles All it needs is love. Love it all it needs.]]
-->'''Lincoln:''' And strings. And a neck. And a body.

** Parodied in "Driving Ambition", which shows Luna smashing a harp after playing it in a fancy concert.

Rock stars often get so into the hardness of their music that they actually destroy instruments. This most often takes the form of smashing a guitar (hence the trope name) on the stage as hard as possible, pounding it to fragments with a few whacks. Some rock bands set their instruments on fire. And these aren't fictional works trying to make [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll rock seem bad]]. This is ''TruthInTelevision''. So much so that it has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_destruction its own page on the other wiki.]]

* ''Series/SesameStreet:'' Little Chrissy does this to a piano after performing "Eight Balls of Fur".

* ''Film/AnimalHouse'' has a famous scene where Creator/JohnBelushi is so annoyed at an annoying crooner that he grabs his guitar and smashes it on the wall.

* Jeff Beck, with Music/TheYardbirds, does this in the movie ''Film/BlowUp''.

Rock stars often get so into the hardness of their music that they actually destroy instruments. This most often takes the form of smashing a guitar (hence the trope name) on the stage as hard as possible, pounding it to fragments with a few whacks. Some rock bands set their instruments on fire. And these aren't fictional works trying to make [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll rock seem bad]]. This is ''TruthInTelevision''. So much so that it has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_destruction its own page on the other wiki]].

* A Creator/{{PBS}} promo ("[[https://vimeo.com/49967486 Be more passionate]]") featuring a string quintet (playing the scherzo from Brahms op. 34) finishes with the performers trashing their instruments.

* Parodied in Music/WeirdAlYankovic's video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKjRs9O36g4 "You Don't Love Me Anymore"]], where the (filled with LyricalDissonance) ballad ends with Al smashing his acoustic guitar to pieces (and [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/weird-al-yankovic,58244/ apparently]] [[ShootTheMoney not only it was an expensive instrument]], [[MadeOfIron but it was also hard to break]]). He does this in concerts after singing "You Don't Love Me Anymore" as well. Additionally, the opening of ''The Compleat Al'' shows Al destroying his accordion with fire ''a la'' Jimi Hendrix.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'' short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ixfTKGG8A "Friendship Through the Ages"]], Rainbow Dash ends up smashing her guitar during her PunkRock segment. Note that it isn't her favorite one she acquired in "Guitar Centered".

* Brazil had a NeverLiveItDown case with Sérgio Ricardo, who in a 1967 song festival was so booed by the audience ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN7hQgfxt2A which started even before he hit the stage]], as they heard his song would be presented with a diferent arrangement) he shouted "You won!", smashed his acoustic guitar and threw the remains at them.

* Music/JimiHendrix would do this, but only after setting the guitar on fire first. Hendrix first did this in 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival. Aware of Music/TheWho's use of this trope, the organizers wanted them to close the festival, but Pete Townshend refused to play after Hendrix. Hendrix simply looked at Townshend's signature move and burned the guitar before smashing it.

Now this might seem like a waste of a perfectly good instrument, and sometimes it is, but smashing a guitar is much harder than you'd expect from seeing this trope in fiction. Many a young guitarist has gotten frustrated with his instrument in the middle of a show and [[PercussiveTherapy decided to smash it]], only to find out that his instrument is MadeOfIron (or plywood). When the instrument destruction is more planned and theatrical, bands will often rig the instrument to smash apart easily in order to please the audience. Or a musician will deliberately buy cheap junk instruments so he can smash them. There've been a number of incidents where a guitar company repaired a shattered instrument. And at least one country-rock star was challenged in a letter from a little boy too poor to buy his own guitar, saying "If you don't want it, why not give it away?" That musician has done so ever since.

Rock stars often get so into the hardness of their music that they actually destroy instruments. This most often takes the form of smashing a guitar (hence the trope name) on the stage as hard as possible, pounding it to fragments with a few whacks. Some rock bands take it UpToEleven and set their instruments on fire. And these aren't fictional works trying to make [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll rock seem bad]]. This is ''TruthInTelevision''. So much so that it has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_destruction its own page on the other wiki]].

* Music/JimiHendrix would do this, but only after setting the guitar on fire first. Hendrix first did this in 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival. Aware of Music/TheWho's use of this trope, the organizers wanted them to close the festival, but Pete Townshend refused to play after Hendrix. Hendrix simply took Townshend's signature trope UpToEleven and burned the guitar before smashing it.

* Music/TheDillingerEscapePlan are quite fond of smashing guitars, setting guitars on fire, smashing microphones and PA equipment, [[UpToEleven setting drumkits on fire...]]

* Music/{{Muse}}'s performance at Reading Festival 2011 saw Matt Bellamy repeatedly throwing his guitar at the drums before finally hurling it into the air. The drums were probably hurt worse than the guitar. Matt also seemed to do it a lot during the Absolution tour, usually to his Ibanez Destroyers. Also keep in mind that he holds a '''[[UpToEleven world record]]'''.

* Roger Fisher of Music/{{Heart}} did this in the famous "El Kabong" incident where he smashed his guitar and walked offstage in the middle of a concert. He was kicked out of the band for it. Of course, the reason he did it was that he and girlfriend/fellow guitarist Nancy Wilson had recently split up.

** In ''Film/PodPeople'', Joel's invention exchange is a new guitar chord designed particularly for ending concerts. It's so complicated that it takes two hands for Joel to fret it, and when strummed it causes the guitar to explode in his hands.

** IN "Woodstock Slappy", Slappy the Squirrel's new summer tree-house turns out to be on the same farm where UsefulNotes/{{Woodstock}} is being held. In her efforts to shut up the concert so she can get some peace and quiet, she smashes Pete Townshend's guitar, [[BeenThereShapedHistory apparently inspiring the Who to include this in their act.]]

* ''Series/TheKidsInTheHall'' spoofed this with Dave trying to play folk on a standard acoustic guitar, the strings kept breaking, and in the end, Dave said "What the hell. Long live Rock & Roll" and smashed the guitar.