Music

10 banned bands and artists

by Jeremy Mersereau

Whether it’s for blasphemous lyrics, incendiary acts, or revealing pants, musicians are always running the risk of being blacklisted and left unable to enter different countries.

Here in Canada, we’ve cultivated quite the reputation for being a difficult place for musicians to enter, especially artists that create (to quote Justin Trudeau) “a certain type of music”. Of course, we’ve got nothing on nations like Malaysia and China in terms of keeping out head-boppin’ undesirables.

Just so you don’t accidentally infuriate an entire country and leave yourself trapped in an airport transit zone, here are 9 cautionary tales of famous artists that were blacklisted from entering different countries, as well as the reason they were banned. Don’t pull a Jerry Lee Lewis!