In fact, some of the most popular songs around — from romantic favorites like "God Only Knows" and "Brown-Eyed Girl" to pop crowd-pleasers like "Physical" and "LoveGame" — were outright banned from radio play for a wide variety of reasons, from sexual suggestiveness to taboo subject matter to believed blasphemy.
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25 Famous Songs That Were Banned From Radio
Controversial lyrics: "But let me get to the point, let's roll another joint / And turn the radio loud, I'm too alone to be proud / And you don't know how it feels / You don't know how it feels to be me."
2. "Louie Louie" – The Kingsmen
Why was it banned: The Kingsmen's 1963 cover of "Louie Louie" sparked more scandal than Richard Berry's original because of the incoherently shouty way frontman Jack Ely sang the tune. That garbled delivery caused some folks, like Indiana governor Matthew E. Welsh, to erroneously believe that the lyrics were pornographic — the politician alerted the Indiana Broadcasters Association to have the song banned in his state. There was even a two-year FBI investigation into the track, as detailed by the Indianapolis Star, which was eventually called off in 1964 because the bureau was "unable to determine" the lyrics "even after listening to the records at speeds ranging from 16 rpm to 78 rpm."
Why was it banned: From meat dresses to religious imagery, Lady Gagais no stranger to provocation. And she came out of the gate ready to scandalize with her debut album The Fame Monster, which features the suggestive 2009 single "LoveGame." Both the song (with its famous "disco stick" euphemism) and its accompanying bondage-filled video were subject to bans and censorship, but it certainly wouldn't be the last time radio stations and television networks tried to stifle the pop queen's creativity — hits like "Born This Way" and "Judas" saw similar media suppression over the years.
4. "Brown Eyed Girl" – Van Morrison
Why was it banned: This nostalgia-inducing 1967 Van Morrison favorite is one of the most enduringly romantic songs of all time, but it's that very lovey-dovey nature and suggestive imagery — specifically, mentions of "making love in the green grass" — that proved to be too racy for some U.S. radio stations. There are also reports that the song was originally titled "Brown Skinned Girl" to depict an interracial relationship but given the racial tensions of the era, it was renamed to make it more radio friendly.
Why was it banned: With their hyper-political lyrics and anti-authoritarian edge, Rage Against the Machine weaponized their music as social activism and never backed down from agitating the public and those in power. So it's not a shock that several of their tunes, such as the 1992 police-brutality protest song "Killing in the Name," have faced radio bans over the years. In fact, Clear Channel Communications (now known as iHeartMedia) blacklisted the band's entire discography from its 1,000-plus U.S. radio stations following the 9/11 attacks, as reported at the time by Slate.
Related: One of Bruce Springsteen’s Biggest Hits Reportedly Censored for Controversial Lyric
6. “Strange Fruit” – Billie Holiday
Controversial lyrics: "Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root / Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze / Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees."
Controversial lyrics: "God save the Queen / The fascist regime / It made you a moron / Potential H-bomb / God save the Queen / She ain't no human being / There is no future / In England's dreaming."
8. "Love to Love You Baby"– Donna Summer
Why was it banned: For her hypnotically horny track "Love to Love You Baby," disco queen Donna Summer reportedly simulated roughly 23 orgasms over the course of the five-minute recording. The erotic 1975 number thrust the singer into international stardom but also drew the ire of the BBC and other radio stations, who banned the single for its too-graphic content. Even Summer's own grandmother was scandalized, reportedly declaring "I’ll never be able to go to church again!” after hearing the saucy song, per The Telegraph.
Why was it banned: There are only two verses throughout the whole of The Prodigy's 1997 electro single "Smack My B**** Up", and yet that was enough to get the English band targeted by the BBC for its violent and misogynistic; BBC Radio 1 reportedly would only play an instrumental version of the song. Equally shocking was the explicit music video, which included depictions of drug use, vandalism, sexual assault and general violence. MTV initially restricted the video to its late-night rotation before removing the troublesome clip entirely from its schedule.
10. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – The Beatles
Why was it banned: Though John Lennonconsistently maintained that he was inspired to write the psychedelic 1967 favorite fromAlice in Wonderland and his son Julian's freewheeling childhood drawings, there have been enduring rumors that this Beatles favorite is actually about drugs — LSD, to be exact. (Look at each letter of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as a clue.) That hallucinogenic speculation intensified until the BBC reportedly deemed the song unfit for broadcast.
Why was it banned: Some pop songs are meant to pump you up; this 1983 synth-pop favorite is meant to, ahem, calm you down. Yes, Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson confirmed that the band's most famous song "Relax" is about edging, the sexual practice of bringing yourself close to orgasm but intentionally backing off to prolong the pleasure. "I wanted to be provocative with the way Frankie Goes to Hollywood looked and for the lyrical content to be modern and edgy," Johnson told The Guardian, adding that when the song was inevitably banned by the BBC, their record label ZTT celebrated because "it went to No 1 in the UK shortly afterwards."
12. "The Pill" – Loretta Lynn
Why was it banned: From "Fist City" to "Rated X," Loretta Lynn might just be country music's most banned artist. Through her music, the Kentucky-born songstress frankly addressed taboo topics not only avoided but downright frowned about in the country genre, such as her 1975 classic "The Pill," about a woman's freedom of choice thanks to the birth-control pill. The song was reportedly banned by dozens of radio stations across America, but when it cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard charts, "they had to take it out of being banned and play it, everybody had to play it when it was on the charts," Lynn revealed during an episode of PBS's American Masters.
Related: On This Day: Bob Dylan Released His Most Controversial Album Ever
Controversial lyrics: "He did the monster mash / (The monster mash) it was a graveyard smash / (He did the mash) it caught on in a flash / (He did the mash) he did the monster mash."
14. "F*** Tha Police" – N.W.A.
Controversial lyrics: "For police, I'm saying, 'F*** you, punk!' / Reading my rights and sh**, it's all junk / Pulling out a silly club, so you stand / With a fake-ass badge and a gun in your hand."
Why was it banned: The Bangles' biggest hit was this silly 1986 single, full of references to "hookah pipes," "gold crocodiles," "bazaar men" and more. It was later derided for its cultural insensitivity, especially amid growing tensions in the Middle East; for example, the BBC reportedly avoided airplay for the song during the Gulf War in the early 1990s and Clear Channel Communications did similarly following the September 11 tracks.
16. "Puff, the Magic Dragon" – Peter, Paul and Mary
Why was it banned: Legend holds that the titular Puff in this folksy Peter, Paul and Mary track isn't a dragon at all, but a drug. The band itself vehemently denied those allusions to marijuana but all the same, the song was slapped with censorship in the 1960s, especially in conservative Asian locales like Singapore and Hong Kong.
Related: John Denver’s Misunderstood 1972 Folk Classic Was Banned For All The Wrong Reasons
Controversial lyrics: "Goodbye, Earl / Those black-eyed peas / They tasted alright to me, Earl / You're feeling weak / Why don't you lay down and sleep, Earl? / Ain't it dark / Wrapped up in that tarp, Earl?."
18. "God Only Knows" – The Beach Boys
Controversial lyrics: "God only knows what I'd be without you."
Why was it banned: Paired with an equally titillating music video, this innuendo-laden 1981 pop hit was quite a departure from Olivia Newton-John's good-girl image. Those suggestive lyrics got it banned by several radio stations and even had the singer herself questioning whether to release the track. "I recorded it with John Farrar, who's my producer and also my friend, and after it was finished, that's when I freaked out," the Grease icon told Entertainment Tonight. "I went, 'I never even thought about the double entendre here!'" However, Newton-John ultimately moved forward with the song. "I'm finding that very often the things you are most afraid of or tentative about doing are the things you need to do," she added. "So I'm very thrilled that I didn't pull it off the charts."
Related: One of the Most Controversial Pop Songs Ever Topped Charts 46 Years Ago
20. "Deep in the Heart of Texas" – Bing Crosby
Controversial lyrics: None!
Controversial lyrics: "Why don't you all f-fade away? (Talkin' 'bout my generation) / And don't try to dig what we all s-s-say (talkin' 'bout my generation)."
22. "Follow Your Arrow" – Kacey Musgraves
Controversial lyrics: "So, make lots of noise (hey) / Kiss lots of boys (yup) / Or kiss lots of girls, if that's something you're into / When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight / Roll up a joint, or don't / Just follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah."
Why was it banned: In case that saucy song title wasn't clue enough, 2 Live Crew's 1989 rap hit "Me So Horny" was famously blacklisted due to the sexually explicit nature of its lyrics. The song was considered so salacious that Broward County prosecutor Jack Thompson tried to have a Federal District judge to legally declare the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be as obscene in June 1990. "There was something about looking at the lyrics that made it more disturbing. I knew selling [the album] to minors was an illegal act, so I sent the lyrics to all 67 sheriff’s offices in the state of Florida," Thompson told Billboard. The decision was later overturned on appeal.
24. "Rumble" – Link Wray and His Ray Men
Why was it banned: This 1958 instrumental from electric-guitar pioneer Link Wray didn't even need words to drum up trouble from radio stations: the title "Rumble" was thought to refer to gang fights, which prompted the track's removal from radio markets. "The nation atthat time, anxious over sudden spikes in juvenile delinquency, was eager to drum out anything that could be cited as an instigator," per The Library of Congress. The song was added to the National Registry 50 years after its debut.
25. "Imagine" – John Lennon
Why was it banned: It seems unimaginable that was has grown into a heartfelt anthem of peace over the decades was at once time restricted by radio, but John Lennon's 1971 ballad "Imagine" has routinely stoked controversy over the years, with its questioning lyrics thought of as blasphemous by Christian groups (per the Los Angeles Times) and anti-patriotic by the likes of Clear Channel Communications, which banned the song from its stations in the wake of September 11 (according to American Songwriter).
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