Music Blogs

At the age of 16 James Brown was arrested for theft and served 3 years in prison. Later in life (aged 55) the Godfather of soul was sentenced to six years in prison for various offences including possession of weapons and resisting arrest. Brown was involved in a two state high-speed car chase leading up to the arrest.

During a Wings tour in 1980, Paul McCartney was jailed for nine days in Tokyo for marijuana possession after being found with 219g on his arrival at Narita Airport in Japan. Had he been tried and convicted, he would have faced up to seven years in prison, McCartney was released and deported, being told he would not be welcome in Japan again, (although a decade later he played a concert in Tokyo).

In 1918, Leadbelly was sent to prison (for the second time), in Texas for shooting a man dead during an argument over a woman. The blues singer wrote the classic song Midnight Special while inside, he was released two years into his 35-year sentence after writing a song appealing to the Governor of the prison for his freedom.

Rapper Tupac Shakur married his girlfriend Keisha Morris inside the Clinton Correctional Facility, in New York where he was serving a four-year jail term for sex abuse, (the rapper was released after eight months and the marriage was annulled after his release).

Clash drummer Topper Headon was jailed for 15 months at Maidstone Crown Court, England for supplying heroin to a man who later died.

In 1994 Singer songwriter Steve Earle was arrested in Nashville for possession of drugs and was sentenced to one year in jail after being found guilty of possession of crack cocaine.

Stone Roses drummer Alan Wren was jailed for seven days after being rude to a top Manchester Magistrate. He was before the court due to having no car insurance and lost his temper after being quizzed about his earnings.

And in 1998, former Stone Roses lead singer Ian Brown was jailed for 4 months after being found guilty of disorderly behavior during a flight from Paris to Manchester. Brown had threatened to chop the hands off an air stewardess during a heated exchange.

UK singer Mark Morrison was jailed for a year in 1998 after trying to con his way out of doing community service. He sent his minder Gabriel Mafereka who wore sunglasses and hid his hair under a hat so he looked like the star.

In 1980 Hugh Cornwall of The Stranglers was found guilty of possession of heroin, cocaine and cannabis. He was fined £300 ($510) and sentenced to three months in Pentonville prison.