"Vulgar" Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Backstreet Boys Banned in China

Songs from the singers make a blacklist of raunchy music, and sites in the country are being forced to remove the tunes

By Marianne Garvey Aug 26, 2011 3:13 PMTags
Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Backstreet boysVenturelli/WireImage; Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images; Larry Marano/Getty Images

Baby, she was banned this way

Lady Gaga tops the list of musicians, which also includes Katy Perry, Beyoncé and the Backstreet Boys, when it comes to being the most vulgar singer in China; a title we're sure the "Born This Way" singer will find a way to fully embrace.

The "Telephone" crooner's songs lead a list of 100 tunes China's Ministry of Culture is forcing music websites to ban because of their lyrics that will obviously infect their youth.

So what Gaga tunes are being banned? 

Lyrics deemed too vulgar and racy for the country's ears are "The Edge of Glory," "Marry the Night," "Hair," "Bloody Mary," "Americano" and of course, "Judas."

Exactly how the Ministry of Culture picks the titles is not clear, but the randomness of some other songs being chosen is just absurd. Take "I Want It That Way," recorded 12 years ago by the Backstreet Boys. The song was banned for its "poor taste and vulgar content." Poor taste? Not for us to decide. But vulgar? We think not.

Beyoncé makes the cut by actually leaving out the ef-word in the track "Run the World (Girls)" when she says "We run this mutha." And Katy's in trouble for her "Last Friday Night" lyrics, god forbid anyone streak in a park after they have a listen.

But not all of the songs are from American artists. The majority of the music on the list comes from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Canada. 

The blacklisted song list began in 2009, when China attempted to stop illegal downloading and also had the idea to keep songs of "poor taste" out of the country.

Songs named on this latest blacklist must be submitted for official approval or removed from all legal streaming and download services before a Sept. 15 deadline.