Who was the first musician to be arrested because of a song?
When The Crickets first sang “I fought the law, and the law won” way back in the mid-1950s, they might never have imagined those sentiments actually coming true years down the line in the musical realm. But it is the case that despite songs being branded scandalous or outrageous ten a penny, there does come a point where the levels of offensiveness go so far as to veer into criminality.
Of course, there are many tried and tested tales of artists running into trouble over time, such are the very real repercussions of the motto of sex, drugs and rock and roll, but less often are they actually arrested for the content of their songs at large. Sure, back in the day, acts like The Beatles whipped up their fair share of controversy and may have been banned from the airwaves, but falling into the hands of the police was a whole different matter entirely.
The custodians of that slightly shameful honour were 2 Live Crew, who not only were the first band to have a parental advisory sticker slapped on their album, but in the process also became the first artists to enter into a criminal case over the content of their work. All of this revolved around their infamous 1989 album As Nasty as They Wanna Be, which district courts deemed was too obscene and therefore illegal to sell in the year following its initial release.
Subsequently, a record store owner was indeed arrested for inadvertently selling the album to an undercover police officer two days after the ruling came into effect, making history as the first convict of musical crimes. As such, for better or worse, 2 Live Crew had their place firmly stamped in the history books, even though others who came before them had only narrowly avoided the same disastrous fate.
Which other artists have ever been arrested?
It’s not as if 2 Live Crew were the only sonic outlaws in existence, however, as there are a litany of artists who have tested the boundaries of crime for reasons both justified and otherwise. Take Jim Morrison as the prime example, who in 1969 became the first ever rock star to be arrested onstage for indecent exposure at The Doors’ most notorious gig in Miami. Talk about that being not safe for work.
Then there are others, including the likes of Fela Kuti and Billie Holiday, who stuck their necks out on the line not because they were true criminals, but because they were fighting for a cause that they knew was ultimately right. The latter’s iconic ‘Strange Fruit’ faced backlash from her record label when she initially tried to release it in the late 1930s, while for Kuti, becoming one of the defining voices of Nigeria and pioneering the sound of Afrobeat was met with seismic political hostility.
He was arrested in 1984 by the government of Muhammadu Buhari on charges of currency smuggling, after spending years as a vocal opponent to the administration. After countless protest groups and humanitarian causes branded it a political imprisonment, Kuti was released following a 20-month sentence, where he continued proudly flying the flag of justice and Afrobeat until his dying day.
Musicians’ run-ins with the law can evidently vary, from rightful fights for freedom straight down to being outright explicit, but the fact still remains – music wouldn’t command the same power if it didn’t occasionally cause some controversy, as these artists know better than most. Creating a ruckus is all well and good as long as it gains you the right publicity. If it really calls for you being arrested, then so be it.
