Pick a Day

Music History Events: Arrests

June 18, 1974 Rare Earth's drummer Peter Hoorelbeke is arrested after tossing his drumsticks into a concert crowd.

May 13, 1974 An unlikely riot occurs at tonight's Jackson 5 concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC when impatient fans begin smashing bottles in the parking lot. 50 fans are injured; 43 are brought to jail.

January 17, 1974 Singer Dino Martin (not to be confused with his more famous father, Dean) is arrested on suspicion of possession and sale of firearms. He is arraigned and released the next day on $5,000 bail.

March 27, 1973 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead is stopped for speeding, then busted when various drugs are found in his car.

January 14, 1973 The Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh is arrested for possession of drugs in California.

October 14, 1972 Joe Cocker and six members of his touring band are arrested after a concert in Adelaide, Australia, when police allegedly discover marijuana and heroin in their hotel rooms. The group are not charged but instead given four hours to leave the country.

September 20, 1972 Paul McCartney is arrested for growing marijuana on his farm in Scotland. The judge in his case has never seen a cannabis plant, so he takes a good look at it and fines McCartney 100 pounds.

July 18, 1972 All six members of Sly & the Family Stone are arrested in Hollywood after police search their tour bus and find two pounds of marijuana and two vials of cocaine.

September 2, 1971 Grateful Dead have their former manager, Lenny Hart, arrested for embezzling $70,000 from the group's coffers.

August 14, 1970 After being found crawling along a motel hallway in San Diego, California, incoherent and "combative," Stephen Stills is arrested for possession of cocaine and barbiturates. It's another setback for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, who don't tour again until 1974.

August 4, 1970 The Doors' Jim Morrison is arrested in Los Angeles for public drunkenness after being found lying unconscious on a resident's doorstep.

June 23, 1970 Chubby Checker and three passengers are arrested in Niagara Falls after police discover marijuana and other unidentified capsules in the rocker's car. The charges are later dropped, however.

May 16, 1970 Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane is arrested on charges of drug possession in his Bloomington, Minnesota, hotel room after police find him smoking pot. His eventual punishment is a $100 fine.

April 30, 1970 Allman Brothers tour manager Twiggs Lyndon is arrested for stabbing a club manager to death over a contract dispute. Incredibly, Lyndon gets off by pleading temporary insanity caused by being the tour manager for The Allman Brothers Band.

January 26, 1970 The Ourimbah rock festival, Australia's first, opens to an audience of 11,000. The festival results in 26 arrests.

November 15, 1969 Janis Joplin calls out a policeman at her concert in Tampa, Florida, when he uses a bullhorn to yell at audience members who have left their seats. "Don't F--k with those people!," she screams. "What are you so uptight about? Did you buy a $5 ticket?" The cop tells Joplin that she needs to tell the crowd to remain seated, and she replies, "I'm not telling them s--t." After more stage ranting where Joplin threatens to kick his face in, she is arrested after the show, charged with using "vulgar and indecent language." After posting a $504 bail, the charges are later dropped and she pays a $200 fine.

November 11, 1969 En route to a to a Rolling Stones concert, Jim Morrison of The Doors is arrested by the FBI for drunk and disorderly behavior and interfering with the flight of an aircraft in Phoenix, Arizona, after a flight attendant on his trip from Los Angeles accuses him of attacking and sexually harassing her. Morrison and his flight companion, American actor Tom Baker, spend the night in the local jail but are released the next day on $2,500 bail. The charges are later dropped.

July 22, 1969 Aretha Franklin, struggling with the breakup of her marriage, is arrested for causing a disturbance in an incident at a Detroit parking lot.

May 28, 1969 Mick Jagger and girlfriend Marianne Faithfull are arrested in their London home on charges of marijuana possession, but released on 50 pounds' bail.

May 16, 1969 Jack Casady, bassist for Jefferson Airplane, is arrested in New Orleans for possession of marijuana and given a suspended sentence of two-and-a-half years.

May 16, 1969 During The Who's set at the Fillmore East in New York, a plainclothes policeman rushes the stage to tell the audience that a fire has broken out, but guitarist Pete Townshend, figuring him for a rabid fan, kicks him off. Literally. The guitarist is arrested onstage and later charged $30.

May 3, 1969 Canadian customs officials arrest Jimi Hendrix after finding heroin in his bag (he is acquitted in court).

March 12, 1969 Infamous London police officer Det. Sgt. Norman Pilcher, well-known for singling out and busting rock stars, enters George Harrison's house in Esher, Surrey, England and arrests the Beatle and his wife Pattie for possession of marijuana (specifically, cannabis resin).

January 16, 1969 Aretha Franklin's attorney calls police in Ocala, Florida to let them know the woman who has been performing there as Franklin - quite convincingly - is a fake. The imposter, Vickie Jones, is arrested but set free when it becomes clear she was coerced into the scheme by an unscrupulous promoter. She becomes a popular live draw when news of her arrest, and how she can believably sing like Aretha, gets out.

March 20, 1968 Eric Clapton jams with Buffalo Springfield members Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Jim Messina and Richie Furay at the Topanga Canyon home of Stills' girlfriend. Neighbors call the cops, and all but Stills (who escapes through a window) are charged with suspicion of marijuana use. Clapton beats the rap; Young, Messina and Furay are found guilty and fined.

January 28, 1968 Jim Morrison (of The Doors) is arrested after threatening a security guard at an adult movie theater.

December 19, 1967 For the second time, Joan Baez is arrested for leading a sit-in at the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California to protest the Vietnam War. She's sentenced to 45 days in prison but released after 31.

October 16, 1967 Folk singer Joan Baez is among 124 antiwar protesters arrested for blocking entrance to an Army Induction Center in Oakland, California. She serves 10 days in jail but is undeterred: Two months later she takes part in another protest at the same facility that lands her more jail time.

October 7, 1967 After a London hotel accuses The Mamas & The Papas' Cass Elliot of running out on her bill, the singer is jailed overnight and strip-searched, forcing the cancellation of both an upcoming gig and television appearance.

May 1, 1967 Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys is arrested by the FBI for draft-dodging and refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. Wilson, a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, is eventually exonerated by his draft board and rejoins the band, touring in Ireland.