The most controversial music videos of all time

Soundgarden: 'Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart' - The music video was taken down from YouTube after a tragic coincidence. Chris Cornell appears as a prisoner sentenced to death by hanging, only to be saved by a woman. After the singer's suicide by hanging in May 2017, the video was removed. Now the video can be easily found online.

12 / 42 Fotos

Madonna: 'Justify My Love' - The 1990 video featured explicit sex scenes including bisexuality and sadomasochism. At the time of release, it was considered scandalous.

13 / 42 Fotos

Eminem: 'Just Lose It' - The rapper was heavily criticized for making references to Michael Jackson's alleged child molestation. The music video showed the rapper dressed up as the King of Pop in a bed filled with children. Black Entertainment Television banned the 2004 video, after Jackson complained that it was inappropriate and disrespectful.

14 / 42 Fotos

Madonna: 'What It Feels Like for a Girl' - Directed by her ex-husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie, this video is sensational. However both MTV and VH1 banned it, as the Queen of Pop uses weapons, puts the life of an old lady in danger, sets in motion a wave of violence, and it ends in suicide.

15 / 42 Fotos

Duran Duran: 'Girls On Film' - MTV considered the 1981 video to be too provocative, as it featured scenes of semi-naked women fighting with each other.

16 / 42 Fotos

Madonna: 'Pour It Up' - Another Madonna one. What's the problem with dancing surrounded by attractive, scantily clad men? A lot, according to YouTube.

17 / 42 Fotos

Nicki Minaj: 'Anaconda' - This one didn't go down well with censors because of the provocative imagery. Filled with twerking, the erotic dance the rapper did for her friend Drake was just a little too much.

18 / 42 Fotos

David Bowie: 'The Next Day' - The iconic singer appeared in this 2013 music video as a savior, mixing sensuality, self-flagellation, and sadomasochism with religious imagery. Need we say anymore?

19 / 42 Fotos

Rihanna: 'B*tch Better Have My Money' - RiRi took it a bit too far again (according to the censors), with scenes of nudity and explicit violence. It was criticized as misogynistic, containing pornography, inciting violence and racial hatred. A third Rihanna video, for 'Pour It Up,' was also considered to be indecent.

20 / 42 Fotos

Pearl Jam: 'Jeremy' - The video is based on a true story of a kid who shot himself in the classroom as a result of being bullied. The scene was cut from the original video, and all viewers could see was the classmates covered in blood. For this reason, many people interpreted the video as a mass shooting instead.

21 / 42 Fotos

Lady Gaga: 'Alejandro' - The Catholic church took offence to references to the religious organization in the video, which also contained a number of risque scenes. It wasn't banned entirely, but was only shown on US MTV late at night.

22 / 42 Fotos

Queen: 'Body Language' - The name gives a little hint as to why this music video was so controversial. Freddie Mercury engaged in some sensual dancing, which didn't go down well with everyone.

23 / 42 Fotos

The Prodigy: 'Smack My B*tch Up' - The 1997 video is shot from a POV perspective of a person who goes on a booze and drug-fueled night out. There’s sex and violence and everything in between. In the end it is revealed that the protagonist of the story is a woman.

24 / 42 Fotos

Foo Fighters: 'Hot Buns' - The band played truckers showering together and showing a little too much skin for some to handle.

25 / 42 Fotos

Foo Fighters: 'Low' - Dave Grohl revealed that not much of the six hours of footage they made for the 2003 video make the final cut. But even the end result was considered inappropriate by MTV.

26 / 42 Fotos

Marilyn Manson: '(s)Aint' - The singer appears snorting lines of cocaine off of a Bible. The video went so far that his own record label censored it, releasing a heavily edited version instead.

27 / 42 Fotos

Eminem (Ft. Dido): 'Stan' - The song that introduced a new word to describe an obsessive fan was heavily censored at the time. At one point, Eminem-obsessed Stan drives off a bridge.

28 / 42 Fotos

Erykah Baduh: 'Window Seat' - The singer walks down a street while removing her clothes. She ends up naked, feigning being shot, in the spot where former US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Square, Texas. Badu was charged with disorderly conduct for her public nudity, but the video was not banned.

29 / 42 Fotos

The Kinks: 'Dead End Street' - Back in 1966, the BBC banned the music video, considering it to be in poor taste. The video showed the band members carrying a coffin, which a man then jumps out of. More innocent times.

30 / 42 Fotos

Nine Inch Nails: 'Closer' - Almost two minutes had to be cut from the original music video plan. The final version was still pretty extreme, featuring imagery involving religion, sexuality, animal cruelty, politics, and terror. Examples include lead singer Trent Reznor wearing fetish gear including a ball gag and long leather gloves while swinging in shackles. This is all in combination with the songs explicit lyrics as well.

31 / 42 Fotos

Kanye West: 'All of the Lights' - Even today this video is preceded by a warning that it contains flashing images that can provoke epileptic seizures.

32 / 42 Fotos

Maroon 5: 'This Love' - US MTV decided that the words "coming" and "sinking" had sexual connotations and censored the video.

33 / 42 Fotos

M.I.A.: 'Born Free' - Police violence and scenes of drug use and sex led to the 2011 video being banned from YouTube.

34 / 42 Fotos

Robbie Williams: 'Rock DJ' - The BBC refused to show the video in its entirety, deeming it too shocking. The singer is seen stripping off his clothes, then his skin, muscles, and his insides, leaving just a dancing skeleton. It's pretty bizarre...

35 / 42 Fotos

Björk: 'Pagan Poetry' - The singer's exposed breasts and graphic images of body piercing proved to be too much for some people.

36 / 42 Fotos

Aphex Twin: 'Windowlicker' - The video is essentially a parody about rap videos. The truly bizarre thing? Lots of people in the video have Aphex Twin's face! Add 127 different curse words and you can easily imagine how it ruffled some feathers.

37 / 42 Fotos

Tame Impala: 'The Less I Know The Better' - Just after it was released, the music video disappeared, before being uploaded again. The reason? There was nothing explicit involved, but something else was implied. The video follows a high school basketball player in love with a cheerleader, who begins a relationship with the team's gorilla mascot (named Trevor).

38 / 42 Fotos

Tame Impala: 'The Less I Know The Better' - There are various references to adolescent sexual fantasies, as well as Trevor kidnapping a girl, and a psychedelic journey that might suggest drug use.

39 / 42 Fotos

Justice: 'Stress' - The French electronic duo's video shows a group of African and North African teens terrorizing the streets of Paris. They even released a statement saying that "the film was never intended as a stigmatization of the banlieue (suburb), nor an incitation to violence, nor above all, as an underhanded way to deliver a racist message."

40 / 42 Fotos

41 / 42 Fotos

0 / 42 Fotos

1 / 42 Fotos

Kanye West: 'Famous' -

The video shows Kanye naked sharing a massive bed with several famous people, from Taylor Swift to Donald Trump. Luckily they are all wax figures.

2 / 42 Fotos

Lady Gaga: 'Love Game' - The repeated line "I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" did not sit well in Australia, where it was considered indecent and consequently banned from TV.

3 / 42 Fotos

Justin Timberlake: 'Tunnel Vision' - YouTube censored the singer's video, which featured buxom women wearing very little clothing.

4 / 42 Fotos

5 / 42 Fotos

6 / 42 Fotos

Nicki Minaj: 'Stupid H*e' - The issue here was the language. You can guess which word was the issue based on the title—the word was used 52 times.

Getty Images

7 / 42 Fotos

Fergie: 'Tension' - The video was removed from YouTube just after it was released. The official reason was not disclosed, but it is thought that it related to a visible nipple.

8 / 42 Fotos

Nirvana: 'Heart-Shaped Box' - Fetuses hanging from trees and old men hanging from crosses are just some of the surrealist elements that made this video so controversial.

9 / 42 Fotos

10 / 42 Fotos

Miley Cyrus: 'Wrecking Ball' -

The video features Cyrus swinging on a ball naked and licking a sledgehammer. It's pretty raunchy for Hannah Montana!

11 / 42 Fotos