The leaves are turning orange, the weather is cooling down, and summer is coming to an end. September is one of the most exciting months of the year for many, as it marks a new season and a bit of a break from the heat. However, drama in the music world doesn’t slow down for any season. Let’s look at four of the most controversial music moments that happened during the month of September!
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1. Paul Simonon of the Clash Smashes His Bass Guitar on Stage (1979)
This might have been controversial for the more conservative crowd who weren’t exactly excited about punk, but it’s since become an iconic moment in punk rock history. Back in September of 1979, The Clash bassist Paul Simomon (and the rest of The Clash, naturally) were performing at The Palladium in New York City. Simomon grew frustrated over the lack of energy from the crowd, many of which chose to sit instead of stand.
Simomon famously had an outburst and smashed his bass guitar on stage. The spectacle was shot by Pennie Smith in the crowd, and the art director behind the soon-to-be-released London Calling loved her shot. That moment became a legendary one and was immortalized on the cover of one of the most famous punk albums of all time.
2. The U2 iTunes Debacle (2014)
This was quite a big deal when it first happened; though, in retrospect, the whole incident was pretty silly. Back in the early aughts, iTunes was the music-streaming platform. The software had not seen much controversy through the years, but it definitely faced some drama in September 2014.
A whopping 500 million users woke up one day to find that U2’s newest album, Songs Of Innocence, was sitting in their personal library. The uproar wasn’t the result of getting a free album. Rather, it was the fact that there was no simple way to remove the album if U2 wasn’t your thing. It felt like music was being forced on the masses, and it has since gone down in history as one of the worst album release stunts of all time.
3. Kanye West Crashes Taylor Swift’s Acceptance Speech (2009)
This is probably one of the most controversial music moments of all time; not just one that happened in September. During the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009, Taylor Swift was announced as the winner of Best Female Video. Swift took to the stage to begin her speech, when Kanye West jumped onto the stage and snatched the microphone from her hands.
West told the massive crowd of celebrities (and the whole world on camera) that he thought Beyonce deserved the award for “Single Ladies”. The spectacle marked the beginning of West making himself look awful, Swift was humiliated, and Beyonce allegedly cried. What a night!
[Get Tickets To See Taylor Swift Live On Tour]
4. Bob Dylan Performs for the Pope (1997)
Back in 1997, Bob Dylan performed “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” for Pope John Paul II (and a huge audience) in Bologna, Italy. That specific pope seemed to love it. However, future Pope Benedict deemed the religious musician as inherently “anti-Christian” and even went as far as to label him a “false prophet”. He even tried to stop the concert, which didn’t work.
Dylan’s appearance ended up boosting the popularity of John Paul II with the younger generation. When Benedict became Pope, he banned guitars from Mass and canceled the annual Vatican Christmas concert to keep pop stars from performing.
Photo by Christopher Polk
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