Billie Joe Armstrong joins long list of badly timed pop meltdowns

Green Day singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong not only smashed a perfectly good guitar during the group’s performance over the weekend at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas, he also joined a long list of pop and rock artists who have exploded spectacularly in public.

There may be no such thing as a well-timed public meltdown, but some incidents throughout pop music history have seemed considerably more unfortunate than others.

PHOTOS: Unfortunately timed pop meltdowns | Celebrity meltdowns

Some add up to simply bad marketing and publicity for the act, as when country singer Keith Urban checked himself into rehab just two weeks before the release of a new album that was the subject of a major label promotion campaign. Or when Chris Brown unloaded on national TV with “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts when she asked about his assault on Rihanna rather than his brand-new album, “F.A.M.E.”

Here’s a photo gallery touching on a sampling of pop stars who have melted down at particularly awkward moments.

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