4 Breakup Songs and Who They're About

Ouch
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 1, 2015 9:45 AM CST
4 Breakup Songs and Who They're About
Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani in 2013.   (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

If you love speculating about who might be the subject of a particularly bitter breakup ballad, you'll really love ETOnline's list of nine angry songs and the celebrity exes they're (probably) about. A sampling:

  • Gwen Stefani, "Used to Love You," 2015: Considering Stefani filed for divorce from Gavin Rossdale in August—and she admitted she wrote this song "recently"—it's likely about her soon-to-be-ex-hubby of almost a dozen years. Sample line: "I don't know why I cry / I think it's 'cause I remembered for the first time / Since I hated you / That I used to love you."
  • Coldplay, "True Love," 2014: Chris Martin co-wrote this song, and it was released soon after he and Gwyneth Paltrow announced their split, so it's likely about her. Lyrics like "I've lost you now, you let me go" are particularly sad when you consider other, more romantic Coldplay songs were also reportedly inspired by Gwyneth.

  • Big Sean, "I Don't F--- With You," 2014: The rapper and Naya Rivera called off their engagement in April 2014, and this song was released in September ... soon after Rivera married someone else, reportedly on the same day she was originally set to marry Big Sean. Consider the lyrics: "I heard you got a new man / I see you takin' a pic / Then you post it up / Thinkin' that it's makin' me sick."
  • Pink, "So What," 2008: She released this song, which includes the line "I guess I just lost my husband," while separated from hubby Carey Hart, but Hart made a cameo in the video—and the pair reunited in 2010.
Click for the complete list, which includes another bitter Stefani song that was quite obviously about Rossdale—years before they got married. (More Gwen Stefani stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X