There’s nothing better than when a favored star who’s fallen on bad luck returns to the spotlight energized and renewed. Think Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and even Michael Vick. But the sad reality is that comebacks are harder than we think – and certainly not wholly dependent on talent. Just ask these 15 celebs who failed (miserably) in their attempts. They know the deal.

Jodeci

We lost all of the R&B magic that was Jodeci in 1998 when the group went on hiatus – and it looks like we’ll never get it back. Just two months ago, the group attempted a comeback in London and not 30 seconds in, Mr. Dalvin had jumped off the stage, busted his arse and needed security’s help just to get back on. Then when he did get back on he, K-Ci and Jo-Jo (Devante was a no-show) sang out of tune, stumbled around the stage drunk and got straight up boo-ed. They then begged the audience to let them continue, before another group had to take over and finish their set. How horribly embarrassing.

Regardless if someone is rich or poor, young or old, no one is immune from the grim reaper. Stars may live the glamorous life and seem to not have a care in the world but when tragedy suddenly struck these 15 celebrities, they learned first-hand how quickly everything could be snatched away within the blink of an eye.

WENN

Tennis star Serena Williams has dominated the courts for almost a decade but her career and life were in severe jeopardy a few years ago. Williams had to undergo emergency surgery when doctors discovered a blood clot in her lung. “I couldn’t breathe and I just thought I was out of shape, so I thought I needed to get on the treadmill or hit the gym,” the 30-time Grand Slam champion said. “It could have gotten a whole lot more serious a day or two later – it could have been really not good, possibly career-ending, but for the grace of God we caught it in time and I was able to recover.

After much anticipation, VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul aired last night with an amazing lineup of performers paying tribute to the cities that put soul music on the map, like Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and Memphis.

Jill Scott, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Jessie J, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson, Erykah Badu, Ledisi, Chaka Khan, and more were in the building paying homage to great cities, great music, and British soul diva Amy Winehouse.

Check out a recap of some of the most talked about performances below and tell us which were your favorites and which you weren’t feeling.

J Hud, Kelly Clarkson, and Mary J. Blige opened the show with spins on some of their classic songs like  “Real Love,” “Since You’ve Been Gone,” and “Spotlight.”

Nas introduced the performers for the Amy Winehouse tribute, calling Amy his “soul sister” and admitting that her song “Me and Mr. Jones” was about him. That was the most charming part of the tribute as the other singers didn’t quite hit the mark in their renditions of “Back to Black” and “You Know I’m No Good.”

J Hud sang “Night of Your Life” in her solo set, but Twitter’s seemed to find her guilty of jacking someone else’s style as the usually stationary singer pulled out a few moves in her Beyonce-esque dress.

Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and Black Thought shared the stage remixing “You Got Me.”