Musicians are no strangers to censorship and controversy. From Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 premiere of The Rite of Spring to Kendrick Lamar’s 2016 performance of “Alright” at the Grammy Awards, art has always pushed the boundaries of politics and social mores. But with the advent of albums, cassettes, and other means of media distribution came the policing of not only musicians’ work, but the art that accompanies it.
Album covers have always been—and continue to be major sources of lawsuits, public outcry, and even legal action. And with the advent of social media, such controversies are constantly being revisited among both music experts and the court of public opinion. Today, album covers are the subjects of countless op-eds and blog posts, petitions and social media captions, garnering more controversy—and more indignant voices—than ever before. Ahead, the most notoriously controversial album covers of all time, from hip hop mixtapes to pop sensations.
10
‘Sticky Fingers’ by The Rolling Stones
This 1971 vinyl is sexual and, frankly, fun—just like The Rolling Stones’ public image. Designed by Andy Warhol, it features a close-up of a male crotch, clad in jeans. But that’s not all: the original vinyl featured a working zipper and belt buckle holes that revealed an image of white underwear beneath.
The album has always been a collectors’ item for fans and rock aficionados, and it was even nominated for a Grammy for Best Album Cover in 1972. However, not everyone saw it this way. It was banned in Spain, which was then controlled by the oppressive regime of Francisco Franco. Meanwhile, in Russia, the belt buckle was edited to include Soviet imagery and the model was changed from male to female.
9
‘Mother’s Milk’ by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Unfortunately for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, their fourth studio album, Mother’s Milk (1989) faced both legal trouble and calls for censorship. The artwork features a topless woman holding tiny members of the band in her arms. Her left nipple is covered by lead singer Anthony Kiedis, while her right nipple is covered by a rose. The model in the image, Dawn Alane, claimed that the band never informed her that she’d been chosen for the cover and sued the band. She ultimately won a $50,000 settlement.
As one would imagine, the risqué cover also made several national retailers refuse to sell the album. The reason, of course, was the model’s state of undress, even though her nipples were completely covered. But while the aforementioned lawsuit cut into the band’s profits, their censorship only seemed to enhance the mythos around the album and solidify The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ edgy reputation.
8
‘Man’s Best Friend’ by Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter is no stranger to controversy. The former child star has centralized female sexuality within both her songwriting and her performances, celebrating a woman’s right to enthusiastic consent. However, not all listeners see it that way: Her Short n’ Sweet Tour has elicited outrage for its suggestive dances—particularly for the notoriously raunchy “Juno,” for which Carpenter pantomimes a different sex position at every show.
But the cover of the singer’s latest album, Man’s Best Friend, has eclipsed the heated press around her tour. In the cover art, Carpenter poses on her hands and knees in front of a faceless man who holds her hair in one of his hands. Commentators called the cover demeaning, arguing that Carpenter objectifies herself in the photo and sends the wrong message to her young female listeners. Carpenter, however, argued, “My interpretation [of the album cover] is being in on the control. Being in on your lack of control and when you want to be in control. I think as a young woman, you’re just as aware of when you’re in control as when you’re not.” She also pointed out the faceless man’s loose grip on her hair, which she says indicates playfulness rather than abuse.
7
‘Houses of the Holy’ by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin’s fifth studio album, Houses of the Holy, is well-regarded among fans and critics alike. On its tracks, the band explored new styles and arrangements, developing now-legendary songs such as “The Song Remains the Same” and “Over the Hills and Far Away.” The album’s art, too, has become the stuff of legends—in part because of its striking effect. Inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End, it depicts a group of nude children climbing up Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. While the image lacks full-frontal nudity, it was received with trepidation by conservative audiences, but was later accepted into the canon of iconic classic rock imagery.
In 2019, however, the controversy around the album cover was reignited. Facebook banned a number of posts containing the art, flagging them as inappropriate content. The company, now known as Meta, eventually reversed the ban, demurring, “We know this is a culturally significant image. Therefore, we’re restoring the posts we removed.”
6
‘Diamond Dogs’ by David Bowie
The original album artwork for David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs is another example of art censored for nudity. However, this cover was also reviled for the unsettling nature of its sexual imagery. It depicted Bowie as a highly airbrushed hybrid of a man and a dog, with the vinyl’s gatefold sleeve depicting the hybrid’s genitals.
This art was the result of a photo shoot with Belgian artist Guy Peelleart, who was instructed by Bowie to construct a half-man, half-dog creature from a mixture of Bowie, sporting his Ziggy Stardust hair, and a Great Dane. Since its release, it has been met with disdain and fascination in equal measure, highlighting Bowie’s reputation for relentlessly pushing against the mainstream.
5
‘Nevermind’ by Nirvana
Nevermind is Nirvana’s most famous album, and its cover art has been plastered across venues, music stores, and dorm room walls since its 1991 release. It features an image of then-four-month-old Spencer Elden swimming in a pool. The photo is taken from underwater and appears to depict the baby chasing a dollar bill.
While the art has become iconic, Elden sued Nirvana as well as photographer Kirk Weddle in 2021, accusing the two parties of distributing child pornography—especially considering his genitals are on full display in the photo. Elden argues that he will be “forever tied to the commercial sexual exploitation he experienced as a minor which has been distributed and sold worldwide.” However, the $150,000 lawsuit was dismissed the following year, with a California judge ruling that “neither the pose, focal point, setting, nor overall context suggest the album cover features sexually explicit conduct.” The lawsuit incited conversation among music fans over issues of consent among minors.
4
‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ by Kanye West
Kanye West is controversial for a litany of reasons, especially in light of his recent hateful statements. But he’s also been the subject of more innocuous controversies, including backlash over the cover of his 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The infamous art, painted by George Condo, features a twisted caricature of West being straddled by an armless, winged creature. It was personally requested by West to lean into the monster-themed aesthetics and sexual themes of the album, but it also generated disturbed reactions.
Just before the album’s October release, West claimed that his album had been banned throughout the U.S., especially by Walmart, which the latter denied, going so far as to say they were excited to carry it upon its release. Amid the back-and-forth, Condo told The New Yorker that West was intentionally trying to get his cover art banned in order to generate publicity. While the most popular versions of the album feature a monstrous ballerina (also painted by Condo) instead of the sexual image, the latter remains included as additional art within the vinyl and CD versions of the album. On some covers, the original image reamains, but it heavily blurred.
3
‘Electric Ladyland’ by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
In 1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience released Electric Ladyland, the band’s third and final studio album. While the oeuvre contains some of the band’s most celebrated songs, such as Hendrix’s popular cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” it was initially eclipsed by the controversy of its initial album art.
According to the album’s liner notes, Hendrix initially wanted the art to be a Linda Eastman photo of the band in New York’s Central Park. However, the guitarist’s request was ignored in favor of Track Records label executive Chris Stamp’s desire for a far more sexual cover. Stamp reportedly asked a photographer to go to a “local speakeasy” and offer the female employees £5 to appear topless or £10 to appear fully nude for the cover shoot. The result was an image of a group of nude women that Hendrix and his band had been completely unaware of. Hendrix himself publicly condemned the widely censored cover, saying, “Folks in Britain are kicking against the cover. Man, I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t have put this picture on the sleeve myself, but it wasn’t my decision.” The art was later replaced.
2
‘Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1’ by Cardi B
Cardi B released her first mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 in 2016. The album includes a number of popular tracks that launched her career, including “On Fleek” and “Foreva.” But the artist’s immortal artistry isn’t the only reason this tape has remained in the news: Its cover depicts a man performing cunnilingus on Cardi as she irreverently sips a beer, and the male model featured in the art sued the rapper for $5 million in 2017.
The plaintiff, Michael Brophy, claimed that the album cover ruined his reputation because of how prominently it displayed his distinctive back tattoo. He called Cardi’s usage of the photo “digital molestation” and claimed that it negatively impacted his wife and children’s opinions of him. Cardi, for her part, retorted, “There is not one [piece of] evidence where people believe it’s actually him. He hasn’t gotten fired from his job. He hasn’t gotten a divorce. How has he suffered?” After five long years of legal drama, Cardi B finally defeated Brophy in court in October 2022, putting the legality of her album cover to rest.
1
‘Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins’ by John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins was the first of three collaborative albums between John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It also marked the beginning of John Lennon’s more avant garde era, which was largely influenced by Ono, an experimental artist in her own right. The content of the album remains divisive, especially among Lennon fans who preferred Lennon’s more mainstream work with The Beatles. But even more controversial than this album’s music was its cover, in which Lennon and Yoko appear fully nude.
It was reportedly Lennon’s idea to shoot the pair nude in the photograph, which was taken in London in 1968, just before the album’s release. He explained, “It just seemed natural for us. We’re all naked really.” Predictably, distributors disagreed, going so far as to sell the record in a brown paper bag that only revealed Lennon and Ono’s face. Some bags even featured biblical quotes.
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