Former Beatle Paul McCartney performed in Israel forty years after the Liverpool quartet was banned in the Jewish state. The only concert that McCartney offered in this country was scheduled September 25, 2008, at the Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv and was a part of the artist’s world tour. The concert had aroused great excitement in the local media, which recalls that in 1965 the Israeli authorities prohibited the Beatles from offering a concert in this country on the grounds that “their long hair and strident music” threatened to corrupt the local youth. The Beatles were among the 4 Legendary Rock Bands That Were Banned In Entering Countries:
The Beatles
In 1965, the British group was banned from performing in the Hebrew country. The Israeli authorities canceled a 1965 Beatles performance for fear that British musicians could “corrupt with their long hair and shrill music” the morale of the country’s youth. The ban was lifted in 2008 when Israeli authorities apologized to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and to the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison.
The Kinks
In the United States, they enjoyed great popularity before going on their first tour there. In 1965 The Kinks had a somewhat hectic tour of the United States, due to the external and internal pressures towards the group, it took them to the limit. When they played they bundled it up on stage and ended up in real pitched battles, in addition, the attitude of the group members at that time was, so to speak, not very sociable. This led to the four-year suspension of the US work visa of each member of the group from the summer of 1965 and their records stopped playing on the radios.
Led Zeppelin
The band had scheduled a presentation in Singapore for February 14, 1972, although that date would never take place. The story goes that upon reaching their destination, on February 13, the airport officials denied entry to the group, in fact not only were they prohibited from entering but they did not even have permission to get off the plane. Incredibly, the band was forced to cancel their scheduled concert. The reason? Their songs had nothing to do with “satanic” lyrics, their daring clothes, the constant references to sex they made on stage, their relationship with drugs, or, perhaps, their reputation as chaotic and hotel-destroying. Quite the opposite. The problem was their long hair. At that time, the Singapore government prohibited by law: men from wearing long hair, so the musicians received an ultimatum: either they cut their long hair or they should fly back to England.
The Rolling Stones
It was on January 27th, 1973 when the group was denied their first show in Japan due to Mick Jagger’s previous drug convictions. But fifty years after the historic debut – and after they were denied permission to perform in Japan in 1973 – the Rolling Stones were able to give their first concert in Japan, on February 26, 1990, at the Tokyo Dome.