Artists and musicians sometimes tend to write songs dedicated to their personal lives. And sometimes, a core inspiration for their artistic work is through their relationships, whether it be ongoing or officially over. And while there are artists such as Taylor Swift who were known to only write songs about their exes, there are other artists out there who’ve done much of the same. And for some reason, these songs end up becoming successful on the music and streaming charts.
And, as much as society liked to grill on Taylor Swift for writing songs about her ex, some songs (and albums) are pretty much a direct callout to previous lovers. Whether they’re saying how much they felt hurt, all the way to revenge fantasies, every artist has done it. And as mentioned earlier, these songs tend to be successful. Whether that may be because the message resonates with the audience or people just enjoy the drama.
Here are the top 10 best songs about celebrity exes.
10. ‘Never Really Over’ — Katy Perry
This song isn’t about an ex in general, but rather, Katy Perry’s on-again-off-again relationship with Orlando Bloom. The two have admitted in the past that they’ve paused their relationship but ended up back together. In a report made by Us Magazine, the couple claimed that their relationship shifted since the pregnancy and have admitted that their romance is “not perfect.”
9. ‘Madness’ — Muse
‘Madness’ by Muse was a song released in 2012 and ranked 3 on the US Rock Airplay charts of 2013. But after the song reached success with over 156 million views on YouTube, it was revealed by Metro that it was an argument about Bellamy’s ex-fiance Kate Hudson. It’s nothing too personal, but rather it’s about those moments when “she leaves you for a day to think about it.” And despite the personal backstory, Bellamy has said that ‘Madness’ is his “favorite song in the album.”
8. ‘Don’t Speak’ — No Doubt
No Doubt was Gwen Stefani’s former band before she embarked on her solo career. And one of the songs the group released was called ‘Don’t Speak.’ Unlike most songs that tried to keep their answers vague or denied who the song was about, the band confirmed it. ‘Don’t Speak’ was based on Stefani’s breakup with ex-bandmate and bass guitarist, Tony Kanal. But despite the sad message, the song received international success and was featured in multiple Band Hero and Guitar Hero games.
7. ‘The Winner Takes it All’ — ABBA
ABBA had an interesting band relationship, both professionally and romantically. Each of the band members married each other before divorcing. Working with someone that you used to be married to is super weird, especially if your former lover began dating someone else immediately. “The Winner Takes It All” is about ABBA singer Agnetha Faltskog’s heartache after her divorce from Bjorn Ulvaeus. According to Smooth Radio, the line “Tell me does she kiss like I used to kiss you?” was based on Bjorn’s new relationship a week after the two split.
Why do you think it was a big deal when it was announced that the band would be reuniting in 2021?
6. ‘Go your own way’ — Fleetwood Mac
And just like ABBA, Fleetwood Mac also had band drama because of internal relationships. This led to the band releasing an album titled Rumours, with songs that somewhat address the problems and conflicts the band had with each other. One of those songs was ‘Go Your Own Way,’ which was about Lindsey Buckingham’s on-and-off relationship with Stevie Nicks. According to Nicks’ interview in Q Magazine, he found the line “Packing up, shacking up is all you want to do,” to be hurtful and asked to have it removed when writing the song.
5. ‘Kim’ — Eminem
If you’re after something darker, then ‘Kim’ is the song for you. Released on May 23, 2000, the song is about a revenge fantasy Eminem had against his then-wife Kim Mathers. The music video featured a man yelling at a woman, in a form of domestic abuse. The woman is terrified for her life, and the music video ends with the woman’s dead body dumped in a lake. It’s violent and graphic, yet it was praised and understood by fans who enjoyed his music. You can’t get more on-the-nose than using your ex’s name as the song title.
4. ‘Heartless’ — Kanye West
808s & Heartbreak was an album about Kanye’s ex-fiancé, Alexis Phifer, and how he was hurt when the two called off the engagement. But out of all the songs that expressed his pain and sadness, ‘Heartless’ is perhaps one of the most well-enjoyed songs as according to Genius, it was his third best-selling single. The song expressed how mad and lonely he was, despite him trying to move on.
3. ‘Driver’s License’ — Olivia Rodrigo
Aside from her lead role in High School Musical The Musical: The Series, Olivia Rodrigo blew up in 2021 thanks to her smash hit ‘Drivers Licence.’ It was speculated that this song was about her Disney co-star ex-boyfriend Joshua Bassett and the love triangle involving Sabrina Carpenter. And while the two young actors denied the theories, Bassett released the song ‘Lie Lie Lie’ with a car-themed music video. But regardless, this song grabbed the attention of Gen Z, especially on TikTok, making Rodrigo the ‘Taylor Swift’ of the 2020s.
2. ‘Love Yourself’ — Justin Bieber
Everyone knows about Justin Beiber’s relationship with Selena Gomez. And while it’s not 100 percent confirmed, both Beiber and Gomez have dated on and off from 2011 to 2018. It wouldn’t be any surprise that the song was about her. But regardless, the song found success as a catchy acoustic song co-written by Ed Sheeran and produced by Benny Blanco and was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2016.
1. ‘All Too Well’ — Taylor Swift
‘All Too Well’ was one of Taylor Swift’s well-loved songs by fans in the Red album. It was assumed it was about her former relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal, but nothing was confirmed. The original song was five minutes long as it detailed a relationship that was once beautiful but ended in heartbreak. It’s cheesy and romantic, yet listeners were taken through a journey of love and loss. In 2021, Swift released a 10-minute version of the song as well as a short film music video that was played at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Songs involving heartbreak and pain aren’t new. And for most of these songs, we could relate as listeners as we also have broken up with someone in the past. We find some sort of comfort when listening to these songs as it is relatable and can be comforting when needed. Almost every artist has written a song about someone they’ve fallen out of love with and it’s through these songs we get to hear these artists’ true emotions.