Hot Gallery: Snakkle Looks Back at Some of Music’s Best and Worst Duets

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Worst: Metallica and Lou Reed’s Album <em>Lulu,</em> 2011

Despite thinking they were an obvious collaboration, the mixing of Metallica music with Lou Reed’s spoken-word lyrics based on the plays of a German expressionist was a real puzzler. Dour, weird (not in a good way), and hard to listen to, Lulu got trashed by music critics and ignored by fans of both artists.

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Best: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant Perform at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, 2009

Who would ever have paired former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant with bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss? Famed album producer T-Bone Burnett, that’s who. Burnett handpicked the eclectic playlist of Americana and folk songs that became the five-time Grammy-winning album Raising Sand.

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Best: Don Henley and Stevie Nicks Perform “Leather and Lace,” 2002

Eagles singer Don Henley and Fleetwood Mac songstress Stevie Nicks did some moonlighting on their respective bands in 1981 for the heartfelt ballad “Leather and Lace.” Henley’s smooth vocals paired with Nick’s passionate crooning made for an instant classic-rock hit.

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Worst: Tim McGraw and Nelly Perform

How did country star Tim McGraw and bling-rapper Nelly ever come together in the recording studio? Even weirder is that their mellow slow jam became a No. 3 hit on Billboard’s Top 100. How did that happen?

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Worst: Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder Perform “Ebony and Ivory,” 1982

McCartney and Wonder, two musical living legends, came together in '82 to collaborate on a song about racial harmony. What they created was the corny synth hit “Ebony and Ivory.” Sure, it spent seven weeks on top of Billboard’s Hot 100, but time has not been kind to the tune.

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Best: Jay-Z and Kanye West Perform at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, 2011

Arguably the massive alpha-male egos of rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West would prevent them from embarking on a balanced super collaboration, but the two superstars of hip-hop did join forces for the album Watch the Throne. It became a No. 1 album and earned the duo a Grammy.

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Worst: Eminem and Elton John Perform at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, 2001

Unlikely friends, Eminem and Elton John decided to perform Eminem’s hit stalker song “Stan” (which was a duet with singer Dido) live at the Grammys, which at the time seemed like an interesting collaboration. In execution, the vibe was all wrong, with John’s jazzy keyboard playing not gelling with Mather’s angry lyrics. Talk about “ruining it now.”

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Best: Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion Perform “The Prayer,” 2011

Canadian pop singer Celine Dion and Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli were paired together by producer/songwriter David Foster to sing “The Prayer” for the animated movie Quest for Camelot. While their signature singing styles differ, their powerful voices explode in perfect harmony during the soaring climax of the song, and then it’s goose-bump city.

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Worst: Britney Spears and Rihanna Perform, 2011

It should have been a home run to team racy pop divas Rihanna and Britney Spears together for the raunchy club song “S&M.” Unfortunately, the tune was pretty underwhelming, and Spears didn’t exactly exude the same sexy comfort of Rihanna when they performed the song live. A power-pop song pair-up misfire.

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Best: David Bowie and Queen Perform “Under Pressure,” 1981

While David Bowie and Queen separately were the masters of avant-garde British rock, mixing their talents wasn’t necessarily a given collaboration. In fact, Bowie was just going to sing some backup on a different Queen song when their recording session spontaneously birthed the now-classic “Under Pressure.”

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Best: Anthrax and Public Enemy Perform on the Rock the Bells Tour, 2007

“Bring the Noise” is a hard-hitting hip-hop song by Public Enemy from their 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. In 1991, Public Enemy collaborated with thrash-metal band Anthrax for a new version of the song that was an unexpected hit for both of the bands. It united the two disparate styles of music so successfully that the bands even went out on tour together.

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Best: Aerosmith and Run-DMC Perform “Walk This Way,” 1987

Run-DMC ended up completely resuscitating Aerosmith’s career when the two bands got together to do a hip-hop/rock mashup of Aerosmith’s '70s hit “Walk This Way.” It was a head-scratching collaboration on paper, but producer Rick Rubin was the one to see the potential of introducing the two groups. He was right, because “Walk This Way” hit No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100.