Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer appeared to have lost its guitar player when it swing by the Jingle Ball in London over the weekend. The good news: The band didn't lose Michael Clifford. The bad news: He lost his passport and was unable to enter the country for the event.
He's not the first musician who has had problems traveling abroad. In fact, the United States has caused many a headache for traveling performers. Check out some of the more notorious cases:
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
The performer formerly known as Cat Stevens provided perhaps the biggest example of how new security policies in the post-9/11 era would become problematic. Islam was informed when he arrived in the United States that he was on a "no-fly" list and wouldn't be able to enter the country. This seemed silly considering he had been allowed to fly from the UK to begin with. It seemed even more silly when officials realized the actual no-flyer was Youssef Islam, a fact that brought light to the issue that many foreign names don't translate neatly to English. He wouldn't be able to get into the United States for almost two years.
Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse, one of the most sensational voices of the current generation, only had a few opportunities to perform in the United States. Unfortunately, as her personal life began spiraling out of control, the U.S. policy on not allowing those with drug or assault convictions into the country took full effect. She was unable to attend the 2008 Grammy ceremony—where she won five awards—due to her visa issues, and performed for the ceremony via satellite link. As a result, her reaction to winning "Record of The Year" was pretty adorable (watch below). Her continued legal problems would prevent her from appearing at the 2009 rendition of Coachella as well. Fellow Brit Pete Doherty also faced drug-charge problems when he arrived, being detained at JFK International for 10 hours.
Yasiin Bey (Mos Def)
Yasiin Bey, the performer formally known as Mos Def, had problems coming to the United States to tour earlier during 2014, citing "immigration/legal" issues, which caused him to cancel his tour. Although having lived primarily in South Africa for years now, Bey is still an American citizen by birth. Which led many a conspiracy theorist to allege that the Obama administration was preventing him from touring as a punishment for speaking ill of it during his songs. Of course, the emcee also has some outstanding child support issues in his hometown of Brooklyn, so that might explain the "legal" side of things.
Madchild
Don't worry, Muslims aren't the only ones being refused entry to the country. One thing that's sure to keep you out of the United States (and many other countries) is established gang affiliation (which is one of the reasons why the Insane Clown Posse is so actively fighting the FBI labeling of jugglalos as a gang). Mad Child, a Canadian rapper, was denied entry to the United States during 2009 because of his alleged connection to the Hell's Angels motorcycle organization. After two years of legal wrangling, the emcee was allowed to enter the United States again.
Boy George
Boy George's case is interesting in that his inability to acquire a a visa from the United States during 2008 because of being under trial in his homeland of the UK. However that prevented the Culture Club vocalist from carrying out his New York City court mandated community service, which resulted from his false burglary report filed during 2006. We're going to acknowledge that the charges in London were a tad more serious than that: George was convicted of assaulting and holding a prostitute prisoner in his home. After a stint in the the pen, George'a ability to travel to the U.S. was reinstated during 2014.
