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Pick a Day

Music History Events: Arrests

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April 4, 1996 More trouble for Wilson Pickett, who after serving a one-year jail sentence in 1994 is arrested at his New Jersey home and charged with possession of two grams of cocaine. Still on probation, he enters a rehab center in August.

July 25, 1995 Nina Simone is arrested for firing a pellet gun at noisy teenagers playing near her home in the south of France, for which she is placed on an 18-month probation and ordered to seek counseling.

May 15, 1995 Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland is arrested for heroin and cocaine possession outside a motel in Pasadena. It's the first of his high-profile drug arrests.

March 3, 1995 A stalker is arrested trying to break into Roberta Flack's New York apartment.

March 5, 1994 Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane is arrested at her home in Tiburon, California for pointing a loaded gun at police officers responding to reports of a domestic dispute. She will be sentenced to community service and forced to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

November 1, 1993 Rapper Flavor Flav of the group Public Enemy is arrested for allegedly trying to shoot another man in a dispute over a woman. Police charge the rapper, whose real name is William Drayton, with attempted murder, possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

June 4, 1993 Police are called to a domestic dispute at the house of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, and the Nirvana lead singer is arrested. Cobain claims that reports of him choking his wife are false, and that police were called because they were playing music too loud.

July 12, 1992 After a European tour, Axl Rose is arrested at JFK airport in New York, charged with inciting a riot at a Guns N' Roses show in St. Louis the previous year. He gets two years' probation and a $50,000 fine.

October 17, 1991 Sixties British singer Sandie Shaw is arrested and fined 100 pounds for refusing to take a breathalyzer test outside her home in London.

August 18, 1991 Billy Preston is arrested on charges of battery after allegedly attacking a 16-year-old prostitute once Preston discovered he was a transvestite. The keyboardist and singer is eventually given five years probation.

September 24, 1988 James Brown leads police on an hour-long, two-state car chase starting in Augusta, Georgia. Brown is arrested and eventually serves two years for a variety of charges.

June 29, 1988 Lionel Richie's wife Brenda is arrested for assaulting her husband after finding him at the apartment of another woman, Diane Alexander. The couple divorce in 1993, and in 1995, Richie marries Alexander.

November 12, 1987 Sly Stone arrives one hour late for a major comeback concert in Santa Monica, California, only to be arrested at the gig for failure to pay child support.

February 21, 1987 Sly Stone is jailed for possession of cocaine in Los Angeles, an arrest which sends the singer into retirement and virtual seclusion upon his release.

February 24, 1985 David Crosby escapes from Fair Oaks Hospital in New Jersey, where he has been sentenced to drug rehab. The next day, he is caught in Greenwich Village and arrested for cocaine possession.

March 11, 1982 Jimmy Sohns of the Shadows of Knight is arrested for distributing cocaine.

November 21, 1980 The morning after throwing a farewell party for his band the Eagles at his Los Angeles home, Don Henley is arrested after calling 911 to get treatment for a 16-year-old prostitute who was apparently having a seizure.More

July 31, 1980 The Mamas & The Papas founder and vocalist "Papa" John Phillips is arrested for possession of cocaine and running a phony prescription scam with a local pharmacy and eventually sentenced to eight years in prison (though this sentence would later be reduced to 30 days in jail and community service).

July 2, 1980 Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart and Bob Weir are arrested and charged with inciting a riot at San Diego Sports Arena to break up a drug bust.

May 20, 1980 The Clash concert in Hamburg, West Germany is plagued by crowd violence. When Joe Strummer smashes one particularly bellicose fan over the head with his guitar, Strummer is arrested, but cleared after a test proves he was not drinking.

November 23, 1979 Marianne Faithfull is arrested at the Oslo, Norway, airport for possession of marijuana.

July 8, 1978 The Clash's Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon are arrested on drunk and disorderly charges following a concert at The Apollo in Glasgow, Scotland.

November 5, 1977 A record store manager in Nottingham, England, is arrested for displaying a poster promoting The Sex Pistols' album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols.

August 24, 1977 Country legend Waylon Jennings is arrested for cocaine possession in New York City by federal agents, an event which will inspire his song "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got out of Hand?" The charges are later dropped.

July 23, 1977 Before taking the stage at Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, along with their manager, Peter Grant, beat up a member of promoter Bill Graham's staff. They are later arrested and hit with a lawsuit, which is settled out of court.

February 27, 1977 Keith Richards is arrested for heroin possession in Toronto.

June 30, 1976 Police raid Neil Diamond's house and find less than an ounce of marijuana. The arrest is struck from his record when he agrees to attend a drug aversion program.

March 21, 1976 After playing a show in Rochester, New York, David Bowie is arrested on charges of marijuana possession when police raid his hotel room. Iggy Pop and two others are also arrested. His hearing takes place on April 20 (4/20!), and the charges are dropped.

February 19, 1976 Tower of Power lead singer Rick Stevens is arrested after killing three men in a botched drug deal. He is found guilty and initially sentenced to death, but given a life sentence when the death penalty is ruled unconstitutional in California. He is released 36 years later, and in 2016 joins Tower of Power to play a prison concert.

July 3, 1975 Three Dog Night's Chuck Negron is arrested in his hotel room and charged with cocaine possession on the opening night of a tour.

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