What are some popular American musicians that have been banned or censored?

Question

I'm doing a persuasive speech on Musical Censorship, and need some examples of popular artists your average teen would recognize that have delt with censorship. I would like an artist from Rap, Rock, Country, Pop, etc, in order to express how censorship covers all genres of music.

Answer 1

Homer Simpson

Answer 2

2 Live Crew's album "As Nasty as they Wanna Be" was banned in America for a short time, before the ruling was overturned in a federal court.
Unfortunately for you, this is one of the only notable cases of direct musical censorship, as censorship laws were all but eliminated after the obscenity trial of William S. Burroughs' book Naked Lunch. I would suggest using this trial to compose a report on why music and other arts are no longer censored.
On the other hand, pop music (almost anything played on the radio, be it punk, hard rock, soft rock, rap, country) is "censored", in a sense, in that the "artists" must sacrifice their own artistic desires and intentions, which they rarely have to begin with, and follow a formula set out by record executives. This is known as the corporatization of music, by which large firms take control of popular media (i.e. ClearChannel, one of maybe 2 corporations who own all American radio stations, and control what is played on them, hence the homogeny of radio) and record labels in order to maximize their profit. A formula is found that sells, and this formula is repeated while any deviant music (read music written for the sake of music) is effectively removed from the public forum, as these conglomerates control radio playlists, MTV lineups, etc. By doing so, the general population is unaware of the diverse array of music available and over time, becomes desensitized to musical subtlety, so that things like Britney Spears and Young Jeezy, or Good Charlotte and Simple Plan, the list goes on, is what they consider to be quality music.
These "artists" are not famous for their talent, they are famous because people with a lot of money invested a lot of their money into ad campaigns and expensive P.R. to make them and their carbon copy counterparts famous, and thereby multiply their investments by unknown numbers. This, itself, is a horrendous form of censorship. While musicians can still play what they like, their audience is severely limited by this process of closed industry.
I hope this has been of some help to you. :)


Edit: Silly me, I did forget Jim Morrison, whose poignant lines about raping his mother were cut from the studio release of the end. Elvis, I don't think, applies, as it was his dancing that was censored and not his music. Same with Madonna. I know her video was banned, but it was thought to violate FCC codes, and all artists are subject to this censorship, especially on radio and television. They, however, have no say in the matter of what is produced by a private company, in this case being a record label.

Answer 3

Jim Morrison
Frank Zappa

Answer 4

Elvis was censored during the 1950's from many radio stations in the southern half of the United States.

Answer 5

Madonna
The Byrds

Answer 6

Run DMC, Metallica (they both have notable trials on free speach in music)

Answer 7

Elvis Presley was censored. They would only show him from the waist up when he was dancing.

Answer 8

jim morrison

Answer 9

prince
ozzie osbourne
motely crue
madonna
dixie chicks