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Obscenity controversies in music

  • Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was born on the 8th of January 1935, in a small two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi. His twin brother Jesse Garon had been stillborn…
  • MadonnaMadonna Louise Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan, on the 16th of August 1958. Her mother died of breast cancer when Madonna was five years old on the…
  • Lady GagaStefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on the 28th of March 1986, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. Her parents were Cynthia Louise and Joseph…
  • EminemMarshall Bruce Mathers III arrived in the world on the 17th of October 1972, inside a hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri. His mother Deborah Nelson nearly died…
  • Kanye WestKanye Omari West was born on the 8th of June 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and he moved with his mother to…
  • Sex PistolsLondon in 1975 was a place of decay and unemployment. John Lydon, then nineteen years old, wore a Pink Floyd T-shirt with the words 'I Hate' handwritten…
  • I Am the WalrusJohn Lennon wrote the song to confound listeners who had been affording serious scholarly interpretations of the Beatles' lyrics.
  • Gangsta rapPhiladelphia rapper Schoolly D released a self-titled debut album in 1985 that contained the song "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?" This track is widely regarded…
  • Jim MorrisonJames Douglas Morrison was born on the 8th of December 1943, in Melbourne, Florida. His father served as a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy and…
  • The DoorsOn a hot July day in 1965, Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek crossed paths on Venice Beach. Both men had attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film and…
  • Straight Outta ComptonIn 1987, Eric Wright stood in a Compton living room and founded Ruthless Records. He was a member of the Kelly Park Crips who wanted to control his own money.
  • Fuck tha PoliceThe 1989 album Straight Outta Compton features a track that inverts the legal system. Dr. Dre takes the role of judge while three group members act as…
  • Don't Trust MeThe duo began recording "Don't Trust Me" after signing with Photo Finish Records. Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte started the process in 2008, creating a…
  • The Marshall Mathers LPEminem stood in a Detroit studio on the 23rd of May, 2000, holding an album that would redefine his life. The Marshall Mathers LP emerged from the shadow of…
  • Yesterday and TodayIn June 1966, Capitol Records released an album titled Yesterday and Today. This record contained songs pulled from British EMI albums like Help!
  • Mozart and scatologyOn the 5th of November 1777, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a letter to his cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart from Mannheim.