First music video banned by MTV
Who
Queen's "Body Language"
What
first
Where
Not Applicable ()
When
1982
Long before the likes of Rihanna and Miley Cyrus arrived on the scene with their X-rated music videos, MTV began the practice of banning or censoring videos that they deemed unsuitable for their viewers. In 1982, the channel banned the video for Queen's (UK) "Body Language" due to its "homoerotic undertones" and the presence of human flesh, although the band members themselves were fully clothed throughout. Arguably tame by today's standards, the video was shot in a dimly lit steam room and featured sweaty, writhing, Lycra-clad bodies, with Queen's bespectacled frontman, Freddie Mercury, observing the scene from close quarters.