Political Protests That Got Musicians Into Trouble Maria Pro - ultimateGuitar.com | |
go to original August 25, 2017 |
What is the first band that comes to your mind when you hear the phrase ‘political protest’?
We guess that Rage Against The Machine is somewhere on the top of the list. They’re certainly known for voicing their opinion on different aspects of US politics in a very dramatic way. The band have been involved with various organizations including the Anti-Nazi League, the United Farm Workers, Women Alive, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, and many other national and international activist groups.
In this feature, we'd like to talk about a few instances that happened over the past several decades when musicians have paid their price for taking action against the powers that be.
Pete Seeger
Iconic folk musician Pete Seeger was found in contempt of the court and indicted after failing to give satisfactory testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1955.
Seeger appeared before Senator McCarthy’s House Committee on Un-American Activities and refused to name other communists, also refusing to plead the fifth amendment, which would have prevented a year spent in jail.
Joan Baez
In 1967 in Oakland, California, at least 40 anti-war protesters, including the folk singer Joan Baez, were arrested for taking part in a sit-in at a military induction center. The sit-in was accompanied by Baez singing with the crowd. Joan was jailed several times for her political activism during the Vietnam years, but on this occasion, she got ten days.
Nina Simone
Besides her lifelong fight against the Jim Crow laws, Nina Simone also protested the Vietnam War by not paying her taxes.
Her increasing disillusionment with American politics caused her to leave the country in an attempt to avoid the arrest. In 1970, hurt and disappointed by her Homeland and her husband, she moved to Barbados, where, allegedly, had a romantic affair with Errol Barrow, the first Prime Minister of Barbados. She expected her husband and manager, Andrew Stroud, to bring her back. But, Stroud, who was in charge of Simone’s income, interpreted her sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of a desire for a divorce.
Pussy Riot
The Russian band Pussy Riot actually became worldwide famous because of their arrest in 2012 after they danced in a church, singing, ‘Mother of God, chase Putin away!’
Three of them were convicted for ‘hooliganism motivated by religious hatred’ and were released the following year after going on hunger strike.
Unlike other musicians on this list, this band has no significant impact on the history of music, apart from this incident.
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