Top 20 Live Performances That Caused Major Backlash

#20: Oasis at Whisky-A-Go-Go

Oasis is one of the most successful bands in UK history. Their time at the top of the charts in the 90s wasn’t perfect; they made numerous mistakes. One infamous example was their 1994 Whisky-A-Go-Go concert. It’s since been branded as their worst performance ever. When they tried to obtain a preferred substance of theirs, someone ended up giving them a more dangerous variation, which they called “ninja speed.” This led to a disastrous concert, which saw Liam threaten a crowd surfer, alongside spending most of the concert hardly playing. It got so out of hand that Liam smacked his brother with a tambourine. It was such a disaster that Noel ended up quitting for a whole two weeks.

#19: Sleaford Mods Tells Crowd To F-Off

This post-punk duo has been around since 2007, and they’re one of the more niche entries on our list. They aren’t happy with their lack of popularity, though, according to their 2024 Glastonbury performance. On stage, the vocalist complained about there being too many people at Glastonbury, but not enough at their show. He then moaned about how this happened once before, 10 years earlier, then he told them to get lost, although using far less polite words. At least people online were excited about their set, but clearly not enough to show their support in person.

#18: The Pogues on “Friday Night Live”

This folk punk group was at the peak of their fame during the late 80s. One of their most politically charged tracks was “Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six.” The first half discusses the troubles, the second the infamous Birmingham Six, who were falsely convicted in the 70s. The group chose to play it on the Channel 4 show “Friday Night Live.” They decided not to allow such a political message on their channel, though, so they cut to ads early, and it was later banned from being broadcast. It led to significant backlash, with people outraged that they’d censor an artist like this. A few years later, the Birmingham Six were thankfully released, and the ban on the song was subsequently lifted.

#17: Royal Blood

Our next rock duo is called Royal Blood, and they’ve been making music together since 2011. They’ve played their fair share of festivals since, but they’re not often the biggest acts on the bill. Lead singer Mike Kerr became a bit of a diva about this at the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend in 2023. Kerr said the crowd was “pathetic,” then got upset that they didn’t know their songs very well. Many critics said getting angry at a crowd won’t win them over. Instead, they should’ve maybe tried to put on an impressive show. This led to them making a few passive-aggressive comments about the Glastonbury crowd shortly after.

#16: Rage Cut on BBC

As their name implies, Rage Against the Machine is a pretty rebellious bunch. They created the massive track, “Killing In The Name.” It’s full of swear words, which the BBC asked them to cut out. After spending the first half of the song proclaiming that they won’t do what they told them, they delivered on their promises. As soon as the group started swearing, the performance got cut short, with presenters confusingly saying they expected it. If anything, it would’ve been more surprising if they hadn’t done this, given that being a protest band is core to their identity.

#15: Matty Healy’s Onstage Kiss

The lead singer of The 1975 has had a plethora of controversies across his career. One that generated criticism from all sides of the political spectrum was when he kissed his bandmate in Malaysia. The country is not famously opposed to same sex relationships, so this outraged officials who banned the group, plus cancelled the festival days early. Some supporters of the cause felt his heart was in the right place, but many criticised him for what they viewed as careless activism. People worried that it would only make things harder for LGBTQ+ artists in Malaysia, and that he should’ve put more thought into the stunt.

#14: Jay-Z At Glastonbury

Glastonbury Festival has its origins as a rock and roll festival. As times changed, rock became less mainstream. The festival decided to adapt and invite artists from different genres to perform. One of the earliest was rapper Jay-Z, who performed there in 2008, but it became massively controversial at the time. It even outraged Noel Gallagher, who said it was “wrong” to have “hip-hop at Glastonbury.” In response, the rapper called him “ignorant,” alongside offering him a ticket. It didn’t end there; he even did a sassy cover of Wonderwall. The performance was widely celebrated, and now hip-hop artists are as common as any other at the festival.

#13: The Mary Wallopers

This Irish folk group has earned itself a reputation for activism since forming in 2019. This led to an infamous incident in 2025, when they performed for a whopping total of roughly 2 minutes before being cut off. The group walked on stage carrying a Palestinian flag at the Victorious Festival, then had their microphones promptly cut off. Audience members began screaming for them to be allowed to play, but the venue would only let them if they didn’t bring the flag with them. The group stubbornly refused, and in response, a bunch of bands similarly refused to play. The scandal calmed down after festival organisers apologised, then donated to charities providing aid for Palestinians.

#12: M.I.A.’s Middle Finger

At the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, British rapper M.I.A played alongside Madonna. The latter pop star is way more famous, but M.I.A. ended up stealing the show. This is because she flipped off the camera halfway through the performance. They wanted her to censor a swear word, so she did this instead. Her stunt upset organisers so badly that they demanded almost 1 million pounds in compensation. It’s unclear how it ended; we know it was settled out of court, but the details are secret. Maybe next time, she should swear with two fingers, as many Americans haven’t learned it’s an insult in the UK yet.

#11: Eric Clapton’s Political Speech

The Rock Against Racism movement began in 1976, mainly as a response to comments made by Eric Clapton in the same year. The guitarist stated some fairly extreme opinions about immigration. Such a topic is highly sensitive, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but he should’ve expected controversy when he expressed his feelings using horrific racial slurs. In later interviews, Clapton admitted he wasn’t that in the loop with politics, plus that he didn’t know what came over him. He also said in 2018 that he felt disgusted looking back on his comments, admitting that he was “semi-racist” during that era.

#10: The Sex Pistols’ Boat Trip

Shock value is what made this punk group so wildly famous. Their anti-monarchist single “God Save the Queen” generated tons of controversy, and then they fueled this fire even more with their Silver Jubilee boat party. They sailed down the Thames, resulting in them performing outside the Houses of Parliament. Police got involved, forced the boat to stop, and then arrested most of the people on board, excluding the Sex Pistols. It generated tons of support for their group, alongside an equal amount of opposition. This led to their single reaching number 2 on the charts, but also, a few months later, violence against the band and their fans skyrocketed.

#9: Drake - Wireless Festival

Canadian rapper Drake had a very public feud with Kendrick Lamar in 2024. This led to a significant shift in public perceptions of him. Roughly a year later, at Wireless 2025, Drake got a bit fed up performing and ended his set after 40 minutes. He was originally planned to have two sets that night, but one vanished without an explanation. Some fans said he appeared a bit unsettled, a noticeable change from his attitude on the 2 nights prior. Drake was even headlining the event, but didn’t act like it, disappointing the majority of fans who turned up.

#8: Electric Dylan

The idea of a musician sparking global outrage by playing an electric guitar is pretty alien in today’s world. Back in 1965, Bob Dylan was easily one of folk’s most famous figures. Then, he released “Bringing It All Back Home,” an album that featured a rock band for half of it. On tour, Dylan would play these songs using electric instruments, outraging thousands of his fans. The height of this anger came during his UK tour, which resulted in one fan screaming “Judas” at Dylan in Manchester. Now, many people believe that, in hindsight, this was when Dylan created his best albums, meaning these sets would’ve been a blast to watch, excluding the angry fans.

#7: The KLF at the Brits

In 1992, this angsty electronic group was invited to play at the Brit Awards. They collaborated with Extreme Noise Terror, resulting in an outrageously edgy show. They pulled machine guns out mid-set, then started firing blanks off the stage. It was pretty tame compared to their original plans, which included bringing out a dead sheep, pouring blood on the audience, and one member even considered chopping his hand off live. The KLF still bought the sheep despite changing the plan, so brought it out for the after-party. Their goal was to retire after a performance so outrageous they’d never be able to come back. This goal wasn’t met, as they’ve come back multiple times since, and if anything, it only bolstered their reputation.

#6: Kanye at Glastonbury

About 7 years after Jay-Z performed at Glastonbury, rapper Kanye West made an appearance, which was even more controversial. Over 130,000 people signed a petition attempting to get him removed from the event, in the hopes he’d be replaced with a rock band. This is pretty ridiculous when you realise the event only offers 135,000 tickets, implying most people who signed probably weren’t attending. Additionally, loads of musicians who didn’t make rock had played and headlined the festival in the past, with little to no outrage. For instance, UB40, a reggae dub band, headlined the festival in the early 80s, and no one complained then.

#5: Sinéad O’Connor’s Pope Photo

Around the turn of the century, the Catholic Church became embroiled in a severe abuse scandal. Roughly one decade earlier, Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor scandalously destroyed a photo of the pope on “Saturday Night Live.” It was one of the bravest protests in music history, but it generated hundreds of complaints, including criticism from idols like Madonna. A few weeks later, people were she was even booed on stage. About 9 years later, O’Connor became vindicated for this act when Pope John Paul II finally acknowledged the accusations. After her tragic death in 2023, public support for her had shifted to be overwhelmingly positive, with the singer stating earlier she had no regrets about her decision.

#4: Ozzy Osbourne Eats a Bat

It should come as no surprise that the Prince of Darkness got up to a lot of edgy antics. Potentially his most famous was biting the head off a bat live on stage. The teenager who brought it claimed it was dead when he threw it at him. Ozzy contradicted this by claiming it was alive and bit him back. The metal singer assumed it was a rubber toy, but couldn’t have been more wrong. It understandably resulted in widespread backlash, but simultaneously, it’s become a mythologised in rock history. 37 years later, Osbourne released a hilarious bat plush, including a detachable head. It was so popular that it sold out in hours.

#3: Kneecap

The Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap has become so politically outspoken that it got them into a major legal battle. Founding member Mo Charah was taken to court after supposedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in 2024. According to him, it was thrown on stage by a fan, and he did not support the organisation. Not everyone believed this, on account of their pro-Palestinian past, alongside tweeting quotes of a Hezbollah leader. In the end, the court made no decision one way or the other, as his opponents missed the filing deadline, and the case was thrown out.

#2: Bob Vylan at Glastonbury

At the 2025 Glastonbury festival, the BBC didn’t broadcast Kneecap’s performance as it was too risky. Punk rap duo Bob Vylan was broadcast, likely because their political beliefs weren’t as widely known as Kneecap’s. This turned out to be a big mistake for the BBC, as they started shouting an anti-IDF slogan live on stage. It generated massive amounts of backlash, with their US visas quickly being revoked and a bunch of their shows getting cancelled. The performance was streamed on iPlayer, but they refused to upload a replay as they did for loads of other artists.

#1: Live Aid

The Live Aid concert had some stellar performances, like Queen’s famous set. It also had some dire ones, like Led Zeppelin and Phil Collins. Outside of the performances themselves, it was surprisingly controversial, mainly because a lot of the money allegedly went towards buying weapons from the Soviet Union. Médecins Sans Frontières mentioned this to organiser Bob Geldof multiple times, but he wasn’t convinced. The funds raised were intended for famine relief, but apparently, a lot of them went to the corrupt Ethiopian government. They used it for weapons, furthering the war that caused the famine. Their hearts were in the right place, though, and it positively raised awareness for humanitarian relief efforts globally.

Were there any more scandalous performances we forgot to mention? Let us know in the comments below!