It's very plain, obvious, and unarguable to many Beatles fans that Yoko Ono was the demon that tore apart the iconic band. In fact, Yoko Ono's own career as an artist has been uprooted by this stigma that she broke up The Beatles. Still, I feel as if it's impossible for a single woman to tear apart an entire band and there are plenty of other factors that lead to this break-up. Yoko Ono is the easy answer to the question "Why did The Beatles break up?". Still, this is not the only moment in music history, when a complex question was answered with the name of an artist's significant other. It is normal for humans to search for simple answers to complicated questions, but placing blame on another person is something that has become too common and I think it's about time we put an end to this trope.
In the recent news of Mac Miller's tragic death, people were in shock. Some didn't know how to react and in correlation to that, people began to put the blame on his ex-girlfriend, Ariana Grande. When Ariana Grande posted an image of Mac Miller on her Instagram a couple days after his death, the comments blew up with remarks like "You did this to him" and "It's all your fault". Some remarks even went as far to say Ariana Grande killed Mac Miller. Ariana, already saddened by the news of her friend's death had to now also face this incredible guilt placed on her by people accusing her of killing her ex-boyfriend. No one could have planned or schemed Miller to overdose, so it is hard to understand why someone would place this full blame on Ariana Grande, someone who loved Mac Miller so much.
Another example of this trope playing out is in the case of Kurt Cobain's death. When Kurt Cobain died in 1994, Nirvana fans placed the blame on Courtney Love for causing his depression. Some even go as far to say that she murdered him. Love had made some unjustifiable mistakes while in her relationship with Kurt Cobain. I cannot support her in her decisions to cheat on her husband multiple times nor applaud her for using many illegal drugs. Still Much like the events that occurred after Mac Miller's death, a significant other was blamed for the death of a deeply loved artist.
I'll admit conspiracy theories are fun and exciting, but I think we need to separate conspiracy from real living people with real emotions. Yoko Ono has made many mistakes in her life but, she has been reduced from the title of an avant-garde artist to the woman who tore apart the Beatles. Courtney Love was toxic towards Kurt Cobain but, she was not the sole reason Kurt Cobain committed suicide. Ariana Grande did not have control over Mac Miller's death and she's coping with the same feelings of sadness as his fans. Blaming someone is a coping mechanism that has been reused over and over again. With this being said, significant others have been blamed countless times for vital pieces of music history and I think it's time we put an end to this common occurrence in the music industry.