What famous creative duos did after splitting up

The Coen Brothers are the most-successful directing duo ever. They’ve won Oscars and delivered iconic films like “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “No Country for Old Men.” Then, suddenly, “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” a straightforward adaptation of the Shakespeare work, arrived with only Joel Coen’s name attached to it. The somber work was a critical success. Now, Ethan’s solo debut “Drive-Away Dolls” has popped up, and it feels clear that he is the “quirky one” of the brothers. Also, clear that he may need Joel’s restraint to reign him in, which is no longer happening.

The Wachowskis helped reshape the blockbuster landscape with “The Matrix,” but in truth their filmography is spotty at best, lackluster at worst. It seems that Lilly has retired, which left Lana to direct “The Matrix Resurrections” by herself. The belated sequel was received well by many diehard fans of the franchise, but was otherwise kind of shrugged off.

Sonny Bono and Cher were singing sensations and variety stars, but when their marriage dissolved, so did the creative partnership, though they did perform a couple more years together after their divorce. Cher became a successful solo artist, and also won an Oscar for “Moonstruck.” Sonny’s career was interesting in its own right. Sure, there were the guest TV spots and small film roles here and there, but most notably, Bono was elected to the House of Representatives serving the 44th district of California. However, he met a tragic end while still in Congress, dying in a skiing accident in 1998.

Yes, there were four Beatles, but Lennon and McCartney are the two joined together forever, especially since their songs in the Beatles were always credited to both of them. When the Beatles split up, they both kept making music. Lennon did solo work, and also worked alongside his wife Yoko Ono, including his hit song “Imagine.” McCartney has been incredibly prolific, whether solo or in Wings. Alas, any possibility for a reunion dissipated when Lennon was murdered in 1980.

King and Goffin were behind-the-scenes superstars while married and writing together. They penned famed hits like “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and “The Loco-Motion.” The two were divorced by the time King decided to try to carve out a performing career of her own. That led to “Tapestry,” a beloved album, and introduction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both as a songwriter and performer. Goffin would go on to co-write songs with some others, penning four top-10 hits, including a number one for Diana Ross.

Ball and Arnaz did not merely star together in “I Love Lucy.” Their production company Desilu Studios also helped change television production. After their divorce in 1960, and even before that, they did not appear together on screen, but Arnaz is credited as an executive producer on several episodes of “The Lucy Show,” Ball’s follow up to “I Love Lucy.” Ball would go on to keep making sitcoms (to diminished returns), while Arnaz’s biggest achievement was probably producing and directing the sitcom “The Mothers-In-Law.”

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have gone in different directions since the end of their beloved titular sketch comedy show. Key’s career has been what we may have expected, with him popping up in dozens of TV shows, movies, and commercials. You don’t have to try hard to see him in something. Peele, meanwhile, has effectively stopped performing. He’s now an immensely-successful director of horror films, including Oscar nominee “Get Out.”

There does not seem to be any animus between Odenkirk and Cross. After the end of their cult classic sketch show “Mr. Show with Bob and David,” they just went back to having separate careers, aside from briefly reuniting for “W/ Bob & David” for Netflix. Odenkirk has gone far afield from sketch comedy, having become an acclaimed dramatic actor and Emmy nominee for “Better Call Saul.” He even starred in an action film! Cross played Tobias on “Arrested Development,” and has shown up in other TV shows. Also, the “Alvin and the Chipmunk” movies he seemed to hate every second of.

Now, this partnership was a little different, but “Tracy and Hepburn” exists as an entity in the minds of classic film fans. They even have a Wikipedia page dedicated to their pairing. Romantically involved for a quarter of a century (Tracy never divorced his wife), they made nine movies together. Their last, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” was also Tracy’s last, as he died before it was released. Hepburn did less acting after that, but still managed to win two more Best Actress Oscars.

Neveldine and Taylor were synonymous with bonkers, quasi-problematic action films for a few years. They gave us “Crank” and “Crank: High Voltage.” The duo haven’t directed together since 2011. In the interim, Neveldine has directed the semi-obscure “The Vatican Tapes” and “Panama,” the latter of which stars Mel Gibson, which is never a good look these days. Taylor directed the cult horror film (yes, Nicolas Cage stars) “Mom and Dad” and has a Hellboy movie in the works.

The Farrelly Brothers directed movies like “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary.” You know, classic lowbrow comedies. When they decided to try solo efforts, Peter…directed Best Picture winner “Green Book?” No, really! Bobby’s solo debut “Champions” came out in 2023. To be fair, there is an upcoming film called “Dear Santa” that has a screenplay credited to Peter, but Bobby is directing by himself.

McKay directing Ferrell dominated comedy for years. They made “Anchorman,” “Talladega Nights,” and “Step Brothers” together. First, McKay started to get more “serious” with his films. Then, he cast John C. Reilly as Jerry Buss in “Winning Time,” a role Ferrell wanted so badly the two had a serious falling out. McKay’s movies are getting increasingly worse, with “Don’t Look Up” a real flub. However, Ferrell’s time as a successful leading man in film also seems to be over. We’ll always have Ron Burgundy.

Ike and Tina had a lot of success, professionally, as a duo, including winning a Grammy for “Proud Mary.” Alas, personally, Ike was far from an ideal romantic partner, even copping to hitting Tina in a deranged passage from his autobiography. The two split, and Turner rose to superstardom as a solo artist. Ike kept making music, but perhaps one anecdote best exemplifies the tumult of Ike and Tina’s time together. When the duo was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Tina didn’t show up, Ike was in prison for a drug wrap, and so Phil Spector delivered the induction speech.

Both Hall and Oates insist they are not, and never have been, Hall & Oates. Maybe it’s because they never really seemed to enjoy working together? They haven’t released an album since 2006, and while there was talk of a new album as recently as 2021, Hall filed both a lawsuit and restraining order against Oates in 2023, so we can call this partnership over. Since 2006, Oates has released four solo albums and dropped non-album singles in 2023. Hall has released one album, but also had the TV show “Live from Daryl’s House.”

Moranis and Thomas were just two members of the “SCTV” crew, but they are the two forever tied together. That’s because they played the duo of Bob and Doug McKenzie, who even got their own movie “Strange Brew.” The duo even did voices together in “Brother Bear,” but that is basically when Moranis effectively retired. Due to the death of his wife, and needing to take care of his kids, Moranis has done essentially no work since “Brother Bear.” Thomas, meanwhile, has been a successful comedic character actor.

Ramis and Murray worked together quite often for many years. Maybe it was Ramis directing Murray in “Caddyshack,” or the two acting together in “Stripes” and “Ghostbusters.” Then, Ramis directed Murray in “Groundhog Day,” and the director and the infamously mercurial actor had a falling out that led to them never working together again, even after creating a modern classic. Murray’s career is well-known, while Ramis directed “Analyze This” and “The Ice Harvest,” among others. The two did not talk for decades, but when Ramis’ health declined, Murray visited him to bury the hatchet before his longtime collaborator passed away.

You may know that Pegg starred in Wright’s films “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” and “The World’s End,” (also known as the "Three Flavours Cornetto" trilogy) but did you know he also co-wrote the movies? Or are you familiar with the cult British sitcom “Spaced,” which Pegg costarred in and co-created, and which Wright directed every episode of? Since “The World’s End,” Wright has directed “Baby Driver” and “Last Night in Soho.” Pegg had already been in “Star Trek” and “Mission: Impossible” movies prior to “The World’s End,” but he has continued to be in those films since.

Though Simon and Garfunkel have reunited a few times over the years, the duo has not released an album since 1970’s iconic “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” As the jokes indicate, Simon’s career has been a bit more successful than Garfunkel’s. He’s hosted “Saturday Night Live” 14 times! Also, won Grammys and such. Garfunkel hasn’t exactly been a slouch, though. He’s released 10 albums, either solo or with non-Simon collaborators. While he’s only had one top-10 hit, he’s notched six top-40 hits.

We mean, by 2003, the “duo” of Outkast was effectively releasing a double album that was two solo albums, though they are the beloved “Speakerboxxx” and “The Love Below.” Other than reuniting in 2014 for a tour, Big Boi and Andre 3000 have been working separately for roughly two decades at this point. Big Boi has released three albums and done a smidge of acting. Andre 3000 has only released one album, but has done quite a bit of acting.

Martin and Lewis were arguably the most-popular double act for a decade. They had movies, TV shows, you name it. Then, they split in 1956. Martin would keep doing his Rat Pack, crooning thing, but also had his own variety show and helped popularize the celebrity roast as entertainment for the masses. Lewis became a comedy star, maybe the biggest in the world, and also a directorial force. Then, later in life, he became one of the foremost curmudgeons from Hollywood history and alienated almost everybody, but the Martin and Lewis era remains one of almost unparalleled success.