Metal Insider’s Top 5 is a column where we count down the top five of…well basically anything.

Before anyone starts to freak out about the imagine seen off to the side: no, we ARE NOT reporting about My Chemical Romance’s demise. However, the news of the break up got us to thinking about other bands whose disbandment saddened many (or at least came as a surprise). So with that in mind, we determined the top five most surprising break ups in hard rock and metal.

First, though, let’s go over a few guidelines we held while compiling this list:

1) The band had to officially disband for at least a year, and not just go on an extended hiatus (i.e. System Of A Down or Motley Crue)

2) The band could not simply split with key members and continue under their original name (i.e. Guns N’ Roses or Van Halen)

3) The band did not disband specifically due to a member’s death (i.e. Nirvana)

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, check out which five break ups made it onto our list.