The modern day country music fan is quite a bit more tolerant of edgy or controversial songs than fans were 30 or 40 years ago, and as a result, there are fewer banned country songs today.
Blame it on looser morals — or blame it on a wider variety of options — should a song that agitates come on the radio. This doesn’t mean big-time like Rascal Flatts and Kacey Musgraves have escaped outright bans, however.
Most of the banned songs on this list were blacklisted due to lyrical or video content, but a few of them — as is the case for tracks by Carrie Underwood and Morgan Wallen — got the outs from country radio for reasons totally unrelated to the music itself. Some of the bans seem silly, outdated or prim by today’s standards, while others were banned by reasons that still hold water for many listeners.
A couple of artists took a career hit when their songs were banned. Garth Brooks’ ban even resulted in a single of his missing the Top 10 for the first time ever in his career. However, most of these banned songs went on to become huge hits, despite or even because of their outlaw status at country radio. For the most part, this list proves that there’s no better press than having a song blacklisted by the industry.
Flip through the gallery below to see 20 of the biggest country radio bans. Sound off in the comments to let us know which artists you think deserved it — and which big controversial songs we missed.
Too Hot to Handle: 20 Country Songs That Got Banned
What do Morgan Wallen, Loretta Lynn and Lil Nas X all have in common? They — and many more country artists — have all released songs that wound up getting banned on country radio. Here are some of the most controversial country songs of all time.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
