With musicians in the spotlight, it's not shocking to know that if they break the law, it's going to be plastered all over the six o'clock news and on every music site in the world. Loudwire has put together a list of crimes that involved rock and metal musicians
1. Ozzy Osbourne
-He was known for his wild and crazy antics on stage. Including biting the head off of a bat he thought was a prop, but ended up being real. He encountered legal trouble in 1982 when he drunkenly urinated on a 60' statue near The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. The police arrested him and charged him with public intoxication and released him on a $40 bond. But, he was banned from the city for a decade
2. Michael Todd (Coheed & Cambria)
-Prior to the 2011 set with his band opening for Soundgarden in Mansfield, Massachusetts, Coheed and Cambria bass player Michael Todd stopped by a drug store to show one of the pharmacists his cell phone. On that cell phone was a note stating he would detonate a bomb unless he got Oxycontin. He was able to make it out with six bottles and get to the Comcast Center when police finally arrested him. His sentence was one year of home confinement and three years probation. Recently. after he was let go from the band, he admitted to pulling a scam on fans by promising them the chance to buy rare Coheed and Cambria merchandise he didn't really possess
3. Gaahl (Gorgoroth)
-Kristian Espedal, who took on the stage name Gaahl, joined the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth in 1998. This band would be known for its over the top stage show featuring sheep heads impaled on sticks, satanic symbols and imagery and even mock crucifixions with naked, blood-covered models. The band took it too far in 2002 when Gaahl was arrested and sentenced to prison for eleven months for assaulting a man. He was arrested again in 2005 for torturing a man for six hours and draining his blood into a cup and forcing him to drink it. He was sentenced to nine months in prison. Gaahl claimed self defense both times
4. Chuck Berry
-He is one of the pioneers of the genre we call rock. He was one of the original members of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Four years later, at least 59 women came forward to make claims that Berry had a camera installed in the women's bathroom at a restaurant he owned in Missouri. Police found the tapes, including 62 grams of marijuana. He was able to avoid charges of child abuse by pleading to the lesser crime of misdemeanor drug possession and was sentenced to a six month suspended jail sentence. He states the camera was installed to catch an employee he suspected of stealing
5. Todd Harrell (3 Doors Down)
-The bass player for band 3 Doors Down, Todd Harrell has been seeing lights, mostly of the red and blue variety. The bassist has racked up at least three DUI-related charges within the last two years. A recent visit to Nashville ended with the death of a driver. In 2014, he was sentenced to house arrest until he stood trial for the vehicular homicide charges in Nashville
6. Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying)
-In May 2014, the metalcore world woke up to a shock. Tim Lambesis, the singer for As I Lay Dying, was arrested by police and sentenced to six years in prison just eleven days after being arrested. The reason? He solicited a police detective, who was undercover, to put a hit out on his wife, who he was married to for eight years. Claiming the steroids altered his mind, he was given a felony charge for putting a hit on his wife
7. Sid Vicious (The Sex Pistols)
-Born John Ritchie, he adopted the name Sid Vicious when he was in The Sex Pistols. In 1978, he fatally stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen in their hotel room
8. Phil Spector
-This legendary producer is given the credit of creating the so-called "wall of sound" method employed by so many girl groups of the 1960s, including The Ronettes and also by The Beatles for their 1970 album Let It Be. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, the famed producer was arrested in 2003 and convicted of second-degree murder. He was arrested and charged with shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra, California home. He was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison
9. Gary Glitter
-Not everyone knows this name. But, if you're familiar with the song "Rock and Roll, Part 2", then you're familiar with him. His career would have been brilliant if it had not been repeatedly trashed by charges of child pornography and child abuse. He was sentenced to prison in Vietnam in 2008, but is now on the UK's sex offender list for the rest of his life
10. Varg Vikernes
-This Norwegian black metaller had a band called Burzum, and spent some time with the band Mayhem. In 1992, it was said he played part in burning down three Christian churches in Norway and then fatally stabbed Oystein "Euronymous" Aarseth, guitarist for Mayhem a year later. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the crime in 1994 for both the murder and the arson of the churches. He was released on parole in 2009. At 41 years of age, he lives in France and still states that he killed Aarseth in self defense and that he did not burn any churches, despite evidence proving he still played a part in the arson
11. Ian Watkins (Lostprophets)
-Vocalist and founding member of Welsh rock band Lostprophets, he inspired a loyal following. In late 2012, it became crystal clear that he was using his role as frontman to exploit the female fans in the audience, commit sexual abuse on children and even planned to rape a one year old girl. When two female accusers came forward, Watkins, who was 37 at the time, was arrested by police and charged with child pornography and extreme depictions of bestiality. In December 2013, he learned his sentence would be twenty nine years in prison and six years on extended license
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