10 Infamous Crimes Committed by 80s Rock Stars

10 Infamous Crimes Committed by 80s Rock Stars

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at 10 Infamous Crimes Committed by 80s Rock Stars.

For this list, we’ll be considering the most prominent rockers of the ‘80s who were implicated in egregious crimes.

Which of these incidents was most shocking to you? Let us know in the comments.

Dave Holland (Judas Priest)

With the 1979 exit of Les Binks from heavy metal band Judas Priest, former Trapeze drummer Dave Holland was brought on as his replacement. Holland stayed with the band for ten years, playing on some of their most successful albums such as “Screaming for Vengeance” and “Turbo”. His legacy however received an indelible stain in 2004, when he was convicted of the indecent assault of his underage drumming student. Holland vehemently denied any wrongdoing but the case made headlines, leading Judas Priest to put out a statement denouncing his actions. He served an eight-year prison sentence and died reportedly from complications due to lung cancer in 2018.

Sebastian Bach (Skid Row)

Hard rock band Skid Row was a prominent part of the hair metal craze of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. In December 1989, the group played as one of the opening acts for Aerosmith at the Springfield Civic Center in Massachusetts. While performing, frontman Sebastian Bach was hit in the head with a bottle thrown by one of the audience members. Enraged, Bach flung the bottle back and it hit an innocent girl. He then lunged into the crowd and kicked another fan repeatedly before being pulled back by some of the stage crew. Bach was arrested after the show and was eventually mandated to pay a cash settlement of around $500,000.

Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses)

On July 2nd 1991, LA band Guns N' Roses played at the Riverport Amphitheater Missouri. While performing their song “Rocket Queen,” frontman Axl Rose noticed a fan who was supposedly taking pictures. He initially called for security to seize the camera, but when it seemed quite impossible, he jumped into the crowd and did so himself. After being pulled back onstage, Rose smashed his mic and walked out, followed by the rest of the band. Angry fans broke into a violent riot that injured 65 people and resulted in property damage worth about $200,000. Rose was eventually arrested on charges related to the riot and was sentenced to two years probation.

Great White

Although LA metal band Great White formed in 1977, their commercial success largely came during the ‘80s. After dissolving in 2001, some of the group’s members kept performing together. They received national attention in February 2003 for a show at a Rhode Island nightclub called The Station that went horribly awry. Part of their act featured a fireworks display that unfortunately lit up the flammable foam used in the room and started a fire. While most of the band members made it out alive, a large number of the audience was trapped in the building and a hundred of them lost their lives. The band paid the victims and their families a settlement of $1 million, but were publicly absolved of the crime.

GG Allin

Born in Lancaster, New Hampshire in 1956, GG Allin grew up to become one of rock music’s most polarizing figures. Having performed with multiple bands over the years, Allin gained notoriety for his controversial stage antics, some of which are too repulsive to even mention. Throughout his career, he was involved in several legal issues, most notably in 1989 when he was arrested on assault charges. Apparently, Allin had inflicted bodily harm on a woman who decided to press charges. The rock star countered her claims by pointing out inconsistencies in the woman’s story and maintaining that she had given him consent. Regardless, he pled guilty to felonious assault and served fifteen months in prison.

Rick James

Rick James ruled the charts in the early ‘80s with his unique blend of funk, rock and new wave, churning out hits like “Give It to Me Baby” and “Super Freak”. But while he saw success in the ‘80s, the following decade proved to be a tumultuous one. In 1991, James and his girlfriend Tanya Anne Hijazi were arrested and charged with the forced imprisonment and assault of a young woman. James was awaiting trial for that incident when he assaulted yet another woman, this time a music executive named Mary Sauger. For both crimes, he faced a possible life sentence, but was luckily acquitted of a torture charge. He ended up spending five years in prison.

Ozzy Osbourne

As the frontman of Black Sabbath and later, as a solo artist, Ozzy Osbourne helped bring heavy metal to the fore in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Throughout his decades-long career, Osbourne publicly struggled with drug and alcohol addiction that put him in trouble with the law on multiple occasions. He was once arrested for relieving himself at the Battle of the Alamo Cenotaph in San Antonio, Texas while intoxicated (xref). But perhaps his most egregious offense occurred in August 1989, when he reportedly attacked his wife Sharon in a drunken state, with the intention of killing her. He was picked up by police and charged with attempted murder. However, after spending six months in a rehabilitation program, Sharon decided to drop the charges.

Gary Glitter

Gary Glitter enjoyed great success as a glam rock musician in the ‘70s and ‘80s, only to be disgraced in the late ‘90s when he was found in possession of explicit materials involving minors. Glitter was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison. After his release, he fled to Cambodia, where his predatory actions continued. He subsequently moved to Vietnam, where he was also implicated on charges related to molestation and handed a three-year prison sentence. Glitter was deported back to the UK following his release and placed on the sex offender registry for life. In 2014, he faced additional charges of indecent assault for crimes committed back in the ‘70s. His conviction came with a prison sentence of 16 years but was released early after serving only 8 years.

Tommy Lee & Nikki Sixx (Mötley Crüe)

When they weren’t selling millions of records of their debauchery-riddled tunes, the members of Mötley Crüe were seemingly deep in legal trouble. In October 1997, the band played a show at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina that quickly devolved into chaos. Apparently, founding members Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx had incited a riot at the show and then turned fans on one of the security guards who tried to contain the situation. Sixx reportedly yelled racial slurs at the guard and doused him with alcohol, alongside Lee. The two were arrested and eventually fined and sentenced to probation for the incident. Around the same time, Lee also served a six-month jail sentence for striking his then-wife Pamela Anderson.

Vince Neil

Speaking of Mötley Crüe, in 1984, frontman Vince Neil also made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Neil was hosting the Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks at his LA home, while they were on tour in the U.S. Both band members partied at Neil’s house for days and eventually ran out of booze. Neil, alongside Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, went out on a liquor run while being heavily intoxicated. On their way back, Neil drove right into an oncoming car, severely injuring both passengers and killing Dingley, eventually. The Mötley Crüe vocalist survived the accident and was later sentenced to 30 days in jail, and made to pay a $2.6 million settlement to the victims.