Editing Bread (band) (section)

===Split and reunion===
By 1973, fatigue from constant recording and touring had set in despite the band's success, and personal relationships began to show strain, especially between Gates and Griffin. All eleven of Bread's charting singles between 1970 and 1973 had been written and sung by Gates. Elektra Records had invariably selected Gates' songs for the [[A-side and B-side|A-sides]] of the singles, while Griffin felt that the singles should have been split between the two of them. There was also some dissatisfaction with the songs planned for a sixth album. After their equipment and instruments were destroyed in a truck accident prior to a scheduled concert at the [[Salt Palace (arena)|Salt Palace]] in [[Salt Lake City]] in June 1973, Bread decided to disband.

Gates and Griffin returned to their solo careers with mixed results. ''[[The Best of Bread]]'' compilation album from March 1973 was a huge success, peaking at No.&nbsp;2 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and staying on the chart for over two years. The follow-up, ''[[The Best of Bread, Volume 2]]'', was released in May 1974 and went to No.&nbsp;32.

The reunion of the group in 1976 came about after Elektra Records expressed interest in another Bread album. Gates, Griffin, Botts and Knechtel returned to the studio that year and recorded ''[[Lost Without Your Love]]'', released in January 1977. The title track, again written and sung by Gates, was the band's last Top 10 hit, peaking at No.&nbsp;9 on the singles chart. This comeback record reached No.&nbsp;26 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was Bread's seventh consecutive album (including the two [[Greatest Hits|best ofs]]) to be [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]]-certified [[Music recording sales certification|gold]]. In March 1977, Elektra released a second single, "Hooked On You". It was less successful on the pop chart (peaking at No.&nbsp;60) but it reached No.&nbsp;2 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart.

The four members of Bread (along with session guitarist [[Dean Parks]]) toured throughout the spring of 1977 to support their comeback album. After a short break, they commenced the tour's third leg that summer without Griffin, whom Gates failed to invite after further rising tensions and Griffin's worsening problems with substance abuse. They ended the year with no further plans to record as a group.{{cn|date=February 2025}}