Famous Artists with Infamous Bad Behavior

Throughout the years, we SongCast employees have heard from plenty of overzealous singers and fame-hungry artists so eager to promote your music you’ve offered us everything-under-the-sun for a shot at the big-leagues. But every now and again someone will take a meaner approach, bullying our poor staffers until we beg you to take our lunch money.

Sure, most musicians generally try to maintain a clean image for the sake of their reputation, but other artists just ain’t so pleasant. Are these artists truly bad apples, or are they leveraging their bad-to-the-bone reputations to gain popularity?

We took a look at several artists with infamously bad behavior that have kept them in and out of trouble for years. Here’s a rundown of 5 notorious artists who have bad mean streaks wider than the Alamo.

• Ozzy Osbourne
  Notorious for biting the head off a bat during a live show, Osbourne has a rap sheet that begins in 1965 when he was charged with a B&E and burglarizing several establishments. Browse through the Ozzy’s list of various crimes and note the highlights – public drunkenness, public urination, no big deal – until he was arrested for domestic assault in 1989, the ultimate indication of a mean streak.

• James Brown
  With multiple violent charges on his record, we wonder how Brown sleeps at night. Besides being arrested for domestic violence in 2004, he was part of an armed robbery at age 16 and an incident of arson. Finally, he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and spent significant time in prison starting in 1988, when he walked into an insurance seminar under the influence of drugs and carrying a large shotgun.
• Chris Brown
  Rihanna fans, you know it was coming. In one of his most well-known court cases, Brown was charged (later dropped) with assault again girlfriend and fellow musician Rihanna. He is also wading through the legal implications of turning his posse on queer singer Frank Ocean in an incident that involved shouted gay slurs and injured Ocean’s hand. Not cool, Chris. Not Cool.

• Justin Bieber

Last but not least, the Biebs is budding into quite an accomplished hooligan. At only 20, he’s attempted to fight the paparazzi on multiple occasions as his bodyguards held him back. After being charged with resisting arrest in 2013, he managed to pick up an assault charge for assaulting a limo driver. This is after several run-ins with the police for tour bus shenanigans and a DUI.

The moral of the story? As a musician, it’s important to control that mean streak- not just for the fan’s sake, but for your own. Promote your music and if things get heated, remember – it’s about the music, not your ego.