List who you feel are the most contraversial names in music history. Here's my list.

25) Public Enemy
24) Bob Dylan
23) the Reids (from JAMC)
22) the Gallaghers *
21) Jim Morrison
20) James Brown
19) Sinead O' Connor*
18) Motley Crew
17) Elvis
16) Syd Barrett
15) Axl Rose
14) NWA
13) Richey James*
12) Courtney Love*
11) Phil Spector
10) Bobby Brown (and sometimes Whitney)
9) Shaun Ryder*
8) Madonna*
7) Rick James BITCH
6) Keith Richards
5) Ozzy Osbourne
4) Sid Vicious
3) Marlyn Manson*
2) John Lennon
1) Keith Moon

I'd think my gal (your #8) would be higher up on the list. :)

Certainly some of the names listed there would make the cut, though. There are different degrees of controversiality (a word?) too- whether it's in one's work, what they do outside of it, etc.

I know I'm a Prince-whore, but I think he belongs for sure.

He was kind of quiet in person. I always hear about people trying to say hi to him but he just went off on his own. His music on the other hand should is a whole different. For most contraversal lyrics he would definitely make the top 10.

I don't think Keith Moon was that controversial. He was just your every day drum animal.

Well...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Moon#A_reputation_for_destruction

yeah...he's a drum animal. Wrecking hotel rooms isn't controversial. Controversial means people disagree as to how something like that should be viewed.

it's actually spelt c-o-n-t-r-O-v-e-r-s-i-a-l

It's not a bad list, but it's mostly the 60s-00s. Here's a first stab at a pre-1960 top 5:

1. ELVIS PRESLEY. No comment necessary, I think. My aging parents STILL don't trust him.
2. JERRY LEE LEWIS. Jimmy Swaggart's cousin, but he claimed to play the devil's music. Married a (different) cousin, age 13.
3. BILLIE HOLIDAY. "Strange Fruit" alone would put her on this list, but she also threw legendary tantrums and was a heroin addict.
4. LITTLE RICHARD. Gay preacher. Demented performer (but in a good way).
5. LEADBELLY. A manslaughter conviction, for goodness' sake.

Those are the ones that leap to mind...am I missing anyone?

I don't think you guys know what controversial means. It doesn't mean badasses or people who pissed other people off. It means they do something that sparks controversy, or, in this case, heated discussion. For example Radiohead is a controversial artist because some people feel that they're the best band of the last decade while other people disagree. Elvis was controversial because some found him dangerously immoral while others loved him, ditto Eminem. Having a manslaughter conviction does not make someone controversial. Neither does trashing hotel rooms, throwing tantrums, marrying a related 14-year-old or indulging in substances. Those practices are UNIVERSALLY reviled. See, if half the population tried to defend Jerry Lee Lewis' marriage THEN it would controversial.

2 Live Crew definetley sparked some major controversy in their day. Not sure if it's enough to warant a place in this list though.

G.G. Allin. The hardcore punk rocker used to urinate on his audience, perform sex acts on them and threw...you know...what apes do...at his audience. Got kicked out of every venue he ever played after maybe 10 minutes. That's CONTROVERSY (Mr. Grammer Police)

Keith Moon dressed up as Hitler at Canter's in Fairfax. If that's not controversy I don't know what is.

I love Keith Moon as much as the next person, but, sorry, dressing up as Hitler at a public event isn't controversy, it's juvenile shock-for-shock's sake. "Ooh! He's dressed like ... like _Hitler_! How ... how _controversial_! What a cheeky monkey!" Give me a break.

Speaking of monkeys, the same goes for basically everything G.G. Allin ever did, times about a million. Most rock fans have probably heard of Mr. Allin because of his notorious antics, but how many can name even one of his songs? "Controversy" was all that the late Mr. A. had going for him, which kind of means he wasn't really controversial at all.

I got some more big names for the list of most contraversial musicians, don't forget those:
Richard Wagner
J.S. Bach
Robert Fripp
G.Haendel
L.v.Beethoven
F.Liszt
and top of the List: W.A.Mozart

While we're including classical composers, don't forget Stravinsky, whose Rite of Spring led to fistfights between audience members at its premiere, which then escalated into riots.

yeah, see, those guys are controversial. Beethoven used the devil's chord (diminished 5); a chord that sounded so evil it was thought to have been created by the devil himself. When he used it for religious music people couldn't decide whether to love it or hate it. That's controversy.

i can't believe no one has mentioned any gangsta rappers hahaha.

Emenim immoral? The same guy that beat up a Conan O' Brien prop puppet? The same guy who picks on vegans and black women but wouldn't dare to go after the men because he knew he would get his ass handed to him? Unless they're gay of course.

please read what I wrote carefully. I said many perceived him to be immoral. That's correct, many did. Many also said that they either didn't find it immoral or didn't care, and it made him a huge superstar. This disagreement made him the most discussed artist in popular music for a good five years, making him a hugely controversial figure.