Musicians aren’t exactly known for their ability to adhere to the law, but some of the crimes listed here are outlandish at best. Avoiding some of the more recent or publicized arrests and minor drug infractions, below are some of the more interesting arrests of music legends. Taking place over the course of nearly 70 years and amounting to a total of over 20 charges, here are the top ten musical mugshots.
10. Trey Anastasio – Drug Possession/DWI (2006)
Trey Anastasio was pulled over for persistently crossing the center line while driving in Whitehall, NY in 2006. After failing to prove sobriety, his vehicle was searched and heroin, Percocet, Xanax and Vicodin were found. He was arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty to both felonious drug possession and DWI charges, though they were reduced to a misdemeanor upon completion of New York drug court in 2008. After fourteen months of community service, drug testing and rehab, Anastasio graduated the program in good standing. He has since remained sober and become an active member of the NADCP, even going as far as to thank the arresting officer for helping him to turn his life around. Oddly, the date of birth listed in the mugshot is April 13, 1966; Trey’s actual birth date is September 30, 1964.
9. Prince – Airplane Prank (1980)
Prince was caught while trying to steal a megaphone from the plane that he and Matt ‘Doctor’ Fink (The Revolution keyboardist) were taking to their next gig in Mississippi. Before landing, the woman seated behind the two apparently alerted the stewardess to their behavior and they were searched. He was not actually arrested for what he referred to as a prank, but was taken into custody by a US Air Marshal. Reportedly, Prince posed for pictures and signed autographs for the duration of his detainment in the airport until he was released a few hours later.
8. Kurt Cobain – Trespassing (1986)
In May 1986, Kurt Cobain was arrested while under the influence for trespassing on the roof of an abandoned warehouse in his hometown of Aberdeen, WA. Even though he was only 19, this was his second charge as an adult. A year earlier he was charged with vandalism, supposedly spraypainting ‘Ain’t got no how watchamacallit‘ on several local vehicles. Although later Cobain (a notorious self-revisionist of his past) would claim in interviews that he spray-painted ‘God is Gay’ in protest of a homosexual friend bullied at school.
7. Frank Sinatra – Adultery (1938)
Unrelated to later allegations of mafia ties, (There were 2,403 pages recorded by the FBI, released under the Freedom of Information act in 1998.) in 1938 Frank Sinatra was arrested in New Jersey for seduction. Apparently Sinatra had slept with a woman “of good repute” and had been reported to police. Charges were later lowered to adultery when it was revealed that the woman was married, but were eventually dropped altogether.
6. George Clinton – Drug Possession/ Paraphernalia (2003)
George Clinton was found alone in the passenger seat of a car in a Tallahassee, FL gas station parking lot in 2003. When approached by two officers for looking suspicious, he hid a crack pipe between the seats but subsequently admitted to having cocaine in his pocket. He was arrested and charged with felonious drug possession as well as a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge for the pipe.
5. Janis Joplin – Disorderly Conduct (1969)
Janis Joplin was arrested after a concert in Tampa, FL in November, 1969. She was accused of shouting obscenities at police officers present during the concert, but was allowed to finish her set before being cuffed. Charges were later dropped when a judge ruled that she was merely exercising her right to free speech, though she was fined $200 for missing her court date. Joplin never returned to Tampa, overdosing less than a year later at the young age of 27.
4. Sid Vicious – Murder (1978)
Nancy Spungen was found dead by her boyfriend, Sid Vicious on the floor of the bathroom in their Manhattan, NY apartment on October 12, 1978. Vicious told the police that the couple had fought the night before and had both taken heroin, also stating “I stabbed her, but I never meant to kill her” though he would later claim she fell on the knife. Ten days later, he attempted suicide by slitting his wrists with a broken light bulb and was hospitalized at Bellvue Hospital.
Just under two weeks later he was charged with assault and sent to Riker’s Island for fifty-five days before being released on bail. The very next day, (February 1, 1979) Vicious overdosed on heroin in the apartment of his girlfriend Michelle Robinson. There is some dispute as to whether or not the overdose was intentional, as his mother claimed to find a suicide note in his pocket days after his cremation that read “We had a death pact, and I have to keep my half of the bargain. Please bury me next to my baby. Bury me in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots. Goodbye.”
3. Marilyn Manson – Sexual Misconduct (2001)
Joshua Keasler was providing security at a July 30, 2001 Marilyn Manson concert when he claims he was sexually assaulted. Allegedly Manson spat on his head, wrapped his legs around him and gyrated his penis on the guard’s neck and it was not choreographed or planned in any way. Manson was charged with sexual misconduct as well as disorderly conduct in August of the same year. The sexual misconduct charge was dropped when a judge determined that Manson had gained no sexual gratification to the act and he was fined $4,000 for disorderly conduct. Keasler later filed a civil lawsuit against Manson that was settled out of court in 2002.
2. Jim Morrison – General Mayhem (1963)
Despite his short life, Jim Morrison was arrested several times on varying charges including assault, vagrancy, indecent exposure, failure to produce ID and even “interference with the flight of an aircraft”. The first instance took place on September 28, 1963 while he was attending Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. Morrison was charged with petty larceny after stealing a police officer’s helmet and umbrella as well as public drunkenness, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest. He would go on to be arrested five more times for over 15 different charges.
1. James Brown – Aggravated Assault/Evading Police (1988)
After being accused of acting dangerously with a gun, officers surrounded James Brown in an Augusta, GA parking lot in 1988. He reversed to evade the police and led them on a pursuit involving over ten cars at speeds above 85mph and spanning two states. Brown claimed that he refused to yield for police because he “feared for his life” and that the police endangered the public when given the opportunity to arrest a celebrity. Originally facing 30 years in prison, Brown was charged with two counts of assault with intent to kill and one count of failure to stop. The intent to kill charges were dropped, but he was given the choice of either six months in prison or $6,000 in fines for the assault charges as well as six years in prison for failure to stop. He served three of the six years before his eventual release in 1991.
Bonus! – Elvis Presley (1970)
This mugshot is actually a bit of a mystery as Elvis Presley was not arrested in 1970. He did however, visit the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. on December 30, 1970. Some reports claim that this photo was taken for the “Special Assistant” badge for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs he was given by President Nixon, but this is problematic because a different photo appeared on the badge. The photo was likely just a souvenir/publicity stunt taken during the visit.
preserved in wax 