Photo: WENN

Here we go again - as next year's festival line-ups begin to be announced, naysayers are once again shooting down the 'unworthy' headliners without giving them even a whisper of a chance. It's a sad tale that will never end, but it's certainly not the first time.

Some of the biggest and best acts on the planet were once magnets for doubt when they stepped up to the plate to top the bill. If we didn't give artists the benefit of the doubt, then we'd have missed out of historic sets from everyone from Biffy to Beyonce, Kings of Leon to Jarvis Cocker, Pulp to The Prodigy and Muse to My Chemical Romance. 

So, as the furore around whether are not Avenged Sevenfold are really up to headlining Download, here are 12 acts that were panned at first, but found triumph as headliners and surprised us all.