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Some live performances make history for all the wrong reasons. Join us as we count down the most infamous musical performances ever witnessed, from shocking stage antics to tragic crowd disasters. From rock legends pushing boundaries to pop stars courting controversy, these are the moments that left audiences, critics, and the world completely divided. Which performance do you think deserves the top spot?
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00:00Whoever cut the corners, that's who I hold responsible.
00:05I need to see that these people get justice and that things change.
00:10Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 musical performances
00:16that were without question the most infamous in history.
00:21I'd like to tell you that we're gonna do a sad song for you.
00:2720.
00:28The Unholy Satanic Imagery Debate Sam Smith has never been afraid to court controversy
00:34from time to time, but even by his standards, his 2023 Grammy performance certainly ruffled
00:40a few feathers.
00:47Joined by Kim Petrus for a rendition of their song, Unholy, many conservatively leaning critics
00:53took major offense to the satanic imagery that was laced throughout the performance.
01:04Although supporters argued that the performance was intended to be a theatrical expression
01:09of camp aesthetics and queer culture.
01:12If the goal was to get people talking, Sam Smith and Kim Petrus certainly succeeded in
01:16that regard.
01:2419.
01:25Frank Ocean's Coachella Performance
01:28If fans were hoping that Frank Ocean's 2023 Coachella performance was going to be a triumphant
01:34return to form, they were probably left disappointed by the end result.
01:44From the get-go, the whole thing was all over the place.
01:48Ocean came on stage an hour late and reportedly with some major production changes at the last
02:03minute.
02:05What we got was an awkward, low effort, but sometimes brilliant mess that left many fans
02:11feeling disappointed.
02:12Ocean reportedly hurt his ankle before the show, which threw the whole thing into a spiral.
02:17Let's just hope that he doesn't wait another six years before returning to the stage.
02:2918.
02:31Jim Morrison exposes himself in Miami.
02:34At the peak of his powers, Jim Morrison was a true provocateur, a man who wasn't afraid
02:40to challenge authority and social norms whenever he could.
02:48Even by his standards, though, the fact that he allegedly exposed himself during a Miami
02:53gig in 1969 was pretty risque.
03:03His bandmates and many non-police witnesses deny that he ever showed the audience too much,
03:09but it is generally agreed that Morrison was incredibly drunk and towing the line.
03:14Unfortunately, his life of excess would eventually lead him to his untimely death in 1971 at just
03:21the age of 27.
03:23What we're testing down there is the issue of artistic freedom of expression, you know,
03:29and it's a significant issue and the trial is very interesting.
03:3417.
03:36The Tupac Hologram Performance.
03:38With the advances of technology, many people have openly questioned where the line must
03:43be drawn when it comes to replicating the voice and appearance of musicians who are no longer
03:48with us.
03:49In today's world, AI is as fiercely debated as any topic around.
03:54Back in 2012, when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg headlined Coachella, they performed alongside
03:59a hologram of Tupac Shakur, thrilling the fans with an unexpected rendition of two of his
04:05greatest hits.
04:06Come with me.
04:07However, when the dust settled, some people were left a little confused about how to feel.
04:13Or nobody die.
04:15La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
04:17Quite a few critics pointed out that it was exploitative to recreate an artist who is deceased
04:23using production tricks, fearing that ethical boundaries were being pushed.
04:2816.
04:29Ashley Simpson's SNL Lip Sync Scandal.
04:32Once again, Ashley Simpson.
04:42When it comes to lip syncing fails, a mention must be given for the disastrous SNL appearance
04:49of Ashley Simpson in 2004.
04:58When the wrong pre-recorded vocals started playing, Simpson responded in the most awkward fashion
05:05imaginable, doing a little dance before making an abrupt exit.
05:09Even decades later, it is the moment that is undoubtedly the most famous of her career.
05:15She received quite a lot of criticism for her reliance on miming in the live performance
05:19setting.
05:20While she did attempt to make some excuses, the damage was already done.
05:24I feel so bad my band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I
05:28thought I'd do a hoedown.
05:3015.
05:31Akon's Fan Throwing Incident.
05:33Who knows what was going through the mind of singer Akon when he decided to call this
05:37fan up on stage.
05:39But we all know what happened next.
05:41I'm sorry for the times that I left you home.
05:44I was on the road and you were alone.
05:46Supposedly, this 15-year-old had thrown a pretzel at him, and so like any mature adult, Akon
05:52did the obvious thing and invited him up onto the stage.
05:56He then picked him up like a pro wrestler and threw him into the crowd.
06:07This obviously led to legal issues for Akon, and even though he tried to explain himself
06:12by bringing his pride and tough nature into it, it just ended up making him look worse.
06:17As it turns out, physically throwing children off your stage is never a good look.
06:2514.
06:26Axl Rose Jumps Into Audience During St. Louis Concert.
06:30Never one to shy away from controversy, Axl Rose is as reliable a source of drama as you
06:37will ever find in rock and roll.
06:39On one infamous night in St. Louis, the Guns N' Roses frontman noticed a fan who was taking
06:45photos of the show without official clearance.
06:47After he tried to alert security but failed to get their attention, he decided to take matters
06:52into his own hands, leaping into the crowd to confiscate the camera.
06:58I'll take it, goddammit!
07:03After getting dragged off, Rose then angrily left the stage along with the band.
07:09This caused a three-hour riot where dozens of people were injured, leading to charges
07:13of inciting a riot against Rose.
07:16Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.
07:21Take me home!
07:2513.
07:26Rage Against the Machine Plays Naked at Lollapalooza.
07:29As firm in their political stances as they come, Rage Against the Machine were never afraid
07:35to make a statement when it truly was needed.
07:37They walked onto the stage naked at Lollapalooza 1993 with taped mouths to protest censorship,
07:44particularly from the PMRC.
07:52They stood motionless for about 15 minutes, confusing everyone in attendance, before eventually kicking off their sets.
08:00For obvious reasons, actual footage of the show is hard to come by, but for many critics,
08:05punishing your own fans who came to see you play was not the right way to make this point.
08:10No more lies!
08:13No more lies!
08:1512.
08:17Alice Cooper Chicken Incident
08:18Life can come at you very fast, and lessons can be learned in the most unexpected of fashions.
08:28For Alice Cooper, he found out about the flight capabilities of chickens the hard way.
08:34While performing in 1969, Cooper noticed that a chicken had been thrown onto the stage by a fan.
08:40You're tearing the place up, and the feathers are going, and I look down, and there's a chicken on stage.
08:46He decided to throw it into the crowd, incorrectly assuming that it would fly away.
08:52It then failed to take off, plummeting directly into the audience who, in a display of total savagery, proceeded to
08:59rip it to shreds.
09:00Cooper was immediately blamed for the whole thing, which did, in turn, feed into his shock-rock persona.
09:07I thought, let's have a live chicken, it would be fantastic.
09:10I threw it out at him.
09:1111.
09:12The Dixie Chicks Denounce George W. Bush in London
09:16Time makes you bolder, children get older
09:23Knowing your audience is truly a key ingredient to sustained success.
09:27For the Chicks, then known as the Dixie Chicks, they managed to alienate a huge portion of their own fanbase
09:33in 2003 by criticizing George W. Bush and the Iraq War.
09:38Despite being praised by many, this move did real damage to their subsequent album sales.
09:44Hundreds of stations simply stopped playing the songs they had celebrated over and over again hours before.
09:50I love their songs, but I don't agree with what they did.
09:52Thank y'all for pulling the Dixie Chicks, and I think we should be just as embarrassed for them.
09:57Although singer Natalie Maines apologized for her remark, a few years later she decided to rescind that apology.
10:03At the time, they were among the most popular acts in country music.
10:07But large portions of their audience were heavily in support of the war and of Bush as president.
10:12In the end, the band were credited by speaking their minds, even at great financial and commercial costs.
10:19I think after the whole controversy, and that feels like eons ago, but we were pretty worn out at the
10:24same time.
10:25And I don't know, I think we needed a break.
10:28Maybe not 14 years, but...
10:30We need to just get mad again.
10:32And have something to write about.
10:34Number 10, Madonna's Like a Virgin at the 1984 VMAs.
10:39If you're looking for one of the most impactful performances in pop music history, look no further than Madonna's 1984
10:46appearance at the VMAs.
10:56She took to the stage to deliver a riveting rendition of Like a Virgin, and her provocative display ended up
11:03turning her into a huge superstar.
11:12Madonna represented a truly liberated young artist, one who was willing to push boundaries and make more than a few
11:19people feel uncomfortable.
11:20To some, seeing this pop star rolling around on the floor was too much for them to handle.
11:25To others, they understood that she was making a statement, establishing herself as a true disruptive force in pop culture.
11:33Can't you hear my heart beat?
11:38For the very first time.
11:42Number 9.
11:43The Who Destroying Instruments on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
11:47Keith Moon was a pretty interesting figure within the world of rock and roll.
11:51Nicknamed Moon the Loon for his wild antics, the Who drummer managed to outdo himself during an infamous appearance on
11:59the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
12:08The deal was simple.
12:10The band were allowed to destroy their instruments on stage after their performance.
12:14However, Moon would only be allowed to use a controlled amount of explosives.
12:26As the story goes.
12:28He bribed a stagehand and packed his drum kit with ten times as much as he was initially allowed.
12:35The big boom went off as planned, but Moon himself was injured and guitarist Pete Townsend permanently lost hearing in
12:41one of his ears.
12:42A truly wild rock and roll moment.
12:46Number 8.
12:47Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's 2013 MTV VMA Performance.
12:58It's been several years since Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus shared the stage at the 2013 MTV VMAs and it
13:06still manages to make us feel uncomfortable.
13:08At the height of Thicke's fame, before his very abrupt decline, his hit single Blurred Lines was everywhere.
13:16If you can't hear what I'm trying to say.
13:19If you can't read from the same thing.
13:23In this particular rendition of the song, he and Miley got a little too close for comforts.
13:28Sure, the idea was to push boundaries and Cyrus was very clear trying to shed her image as a teen
13:35pop star.
13:36The end result here.
13:37Did not sit well with most people though.
13:40And to this day, it is considered a true misstep in the history of award show performances.
13:52Number 7.
13:54Travis Scott Astroworld Festival Crowd Crush.
13:57She'll say there were nearly 50,000 at Friday's Astroworld Festival, headlined by founder and rapper Travis Scott.
14:04When the crowd began to surge toward the front of the stage, pushing fans to the ground and crushing others
14:09at the outdoor venue.
14:122021's Astroworld Festival is remembered as one of the most tragic concerts of the modern era.
14:17During Travis Scott's set, a crowd surge led to the deaths of ten people and hundreds of injuries.
14:23It became overwhelming real fast.
14:26And I remember thinking to myself, what the hell is going on?
14:30Critics accused Travis Scott of failing to halt the performance quickly enough, although he claims he had no idea of
14:37how severe the problem was.
14:39By the time the show was stopped, most of the damage had already been done.
14:44The tragedy sparked lawsuits and widespread scrutiny of concert safety protocols, as there were several shortcomings in this area that
14:52came to light in the days that followed.
14:55Number 6.
14:56Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a bat.
14:58I'm going up the rails on a crazy train.
15:04Few rock stars have taken the hedonistic approach to their life and career as heavily as the late, great Ozzy
15:11Osbourne.
15:12You don't look like a madman.
15:14Look in the shoe you I am.
15:16During a 1982 concert, the former Black Sabbath frontman was performing when someone threw what he believed was a rubber
15:23bat on stage.
15:25In a move that can only be described as ill-advised, Ozzy decided to bite this rubber bat's head off.
15:31He then discovered that it was actually a real bat.
15:40Sure, it was a seemingly simple mistake, but the media ran with it, furthering Osbourne's status as a counterculture figure.
15:49It went on to become one of the most darkly famous moments in rock and roll history.
15:54Number 5.
15:55NWA performs F the Police in Detroit.
15:59You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge.
16:02When the legendary hip-hop group NWA were advised not to play their anti-authoritarian anthem F the Police at
16:09a Detroit gig in 1989, their hands were officially tied.
16:13There was no way they could go up on stage and do anything other than perform the track with max
16:19conviction.
16:19The whole point of the song's lyrics were about mean mugging in the face of the powers that be.
16:25So NWA went up and did what they do best, including a particularly venomous version of the song.
16:32The police responded by forcing the premature end of the concert song.
16:35So the police didn't like that song?
16:37No, they didn't.
16:38For some reason.
16:39I thought it was such a catchy number.
16:41Supporters saw it as a bold stand against systemic racism and police brutality, while critics viewed it as mindless incitement.
16:51This is NWA!
16:54Number 4.
16:56Bob Dylan goes electric at Newport Folk Festival.
16:59Once upon a time, you dressed so fine, to the bumps a dime in your pride, didn't you?
17:06Music before Bob Dylan went electric and music afterwards were two different things.
17:12Dylan was already a popular player in the world of folk, but after growing disillusioned with his status as the
17:19so-called
17:19voice of a generation, he decided to make a change.
17:23How does it feel?
17:27How does it feel?
17:29Instead of slow rolling this transition, he went straight to the source.
17:34Bringing a full band to the very same Newport Folk Festival that had crowned him as a star in previous
17:41years.
17:41Some fans felt betrayed, others saw the merit in his musical switch-up.
17:46The impact of Bob's decision to move into rock and roll has been considered the most important creative U-turn
17:53in music history.
17:54And it's all over now, baby blue.
17:59Number 3.
18:01Gigi Allen at the 1989 New England Punk Show in Boston.
18:14If you know anything about Gigi Allen, you'll know that his performances were nothing short of notorious.
18:20He was known for partaking in many types of lewd and downright disgusting behaviors on stage.
18:26But even by his standards, his 1989 show in Boston stood out.
18:30At this small club gig, Allen came to the stage already intoxicated and began causing a scene.
18:37Stripping naked, fighting fans, and even defecating before the show was shut down.
18:49We can't even get into the more grisly details of what he did.
18:53The police were eventually called, and Allen was carted off before he could hurt anyone else or himself.
19:03Number 2.
19:04Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show
19:07By today's standards, the dance moves of the great Elvis Presley don't seem all that crazy.
19:13However, the 1950s were a very, very different place.
19:16You ain't not gonna-
19:21Appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show back in those days was a real indicator that you had made it.
19:27When Presley did, the impact was immediate.
19:30All of a sudden, he became the biggest name in music.
19:33A figure who pushed boundaries and revolutionized the concept of the rock star.
19:38Sullivan's production team famously made a point of not showing anything below the hips on camera,
19:43due to the nature of his performance.
19:46Seems like a crazy decision in hindsight, but Elvis was seen as a musician who was very capable of corrupting
19:53the youth.
19:54I'd like to thank all the millions of wonderful people that are watching tonight, friends.
20:01And I'd like to say this, until we meet you again, may God bless you as he's blessed me.
20:08Thank you very much.
20:18Before we continue, check out this single from SoundMojo's album, Balance.
20:22Classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and metal.
20:26Check out the full track and album below.
20:28Fortune calls, rise and ruin, night and noon, all are prisoners of the moon.
20:43Number one, the Rolling Stones' Altamont Free Concerts.
20:48Well, the Rolling Stones' tour of the United States is over.
20:50They wound it up with a free concert at the Altamont Speedway for more than 300,000 people.
20:55There were four births, four deaths, and an awful lot of scuffles reported.
20:59On the long list of disastrous concerts,
21:02a mention must be reserved for the Rolling Stones' infamous free concert at Altamont.
21:07Styled as an answer to the peace and love of Woodstock,
21:11the band's decision to hire the biker gang the Hells Angels as their security was a terrible choice.
21:17A scene of total chaos erupted during the show,
21:20brought on by the use of narcotics and the lack of crowd control.
21:23I can't do any more than just ask you, to beg you, just to keep it together.
21:28The incredibly quick to anger Hells Angels even killed a man, Meredith Hunter,
21:33after he supposedly brandished a firearm during the gig.
21:37A further three accidental deaths made this one of the darkest days in music history.
21:50But what do you consider to be the most controversial music performance in history?
21:55Let us know in the comments below!
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