(The following is an excerpt from "Getting The Last Laugh" featured in the new fall issue of GRAMMY magazine.)
Musicians and critics get along famously — like oil and water. Though there are plenty of glowing reviews, when the parties involved don't see eye to eye, sometimes the sparks are highly entertaining. Rather than get bent out of shape when early reviews didn't go their way, these artists got the last laugh by mounting hall of fame-worthy careers.
N.W.A
"The cumulative effect is like listening to an endless fight next door. The music on this record is without a hint of dynamics or melody." — Peter Clark, Hi-Fi News & Record Review, 1989
Last Laugh: N.W.A's gangsta-rap revolution broke down barriers, despite radio airplay bans and an FBI warning letter. Straight Outta Compton is hailed as a seminal hip-hop recording, and the biopic of the same name has ruled the summer box office.
Elvis Presley
"Mr. Presley has no discernable singing ability. His specialty is rhythm songs which he renders in an undistinguished whine; his phrasing, if it can be called that, consists of the stereotyped variations that go with a beginner's aria in a bathtub. For the ear he is an unutterable bore." — Jack Gould, The New York Times, 1956
Last Laugh: Gould's crusade to outlaw the "forbidden fruit" of Presley's "virtuoso of the hootchy-kootchy" after a performance on "The Milton Berle Show" only catapulted the King further into the spotlight. Presley ultimately earned 108 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, three GRAMMY Awards, a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the title King of Rock and Roll.
Rihanna
"Rihanna's fame will likely last longer than [Lou] Bega's, but it shouldn't. … This bland dancehall/R&B debut is filled with chintzy production and maudlin arrangements that block out the Music of the Sun." — Evan Serpick, Entertainment Weekly, 2005
Last Laugh: This downer review couldn't keep RiRi from torching its predictions. In July 2015, the eight-time GRAMMY winner became the first artist to earn more than 100 million RIAA gold and platinum song certifications.
