A grand total of 165 songs were recommended to be banned from American radio in the wake of 9/11, and seven of those were by Aussie royalty AC/DC. 

Following the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center towers that ultimately took 2,977 lives, several media companies censored art that was deemed to be insensitive or triggering.

Three days after the attack, Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) sent an announcement to their 1,000+ radio stations with a list of songs that they considered inappropriate to continue playing.

According to Kerrang, while some DJs chose to continue playing these tracks regardless, they were strongly urged not to.

AC/DC hold the dubious honour of having the most songs that were individually named on the list, while a blanket ban was placed on all Rage Against the Machine tracks.

Meanwhile, The Beatles and Metallica had the joint second highlight number of songs named on the list with four each.

The only other Australian act on the list was Savage Garden, whose track ‘Crash and Burn’ was suggested not to be played.

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Check out the full list of songs that Clear Channel wanted to be banned from radio after 9/11:

  1. 3 Doors Down — Duck and Run
  2. 311 — Down
  3. AC/DC — Shot Down in Flames
  4. AC/DC — Shoot to Thrill
  5. AC/DC — Dirty Deeds
  6. AC/DC — Highway to Hell
  7. AC/DC — Safe in New York City
  8. AC/DC — TNT
  9. AC/DC — Hell’s Bells
  10. Ad Libs — The Boy from New York City
  11. Alanis Morissette — Ironic
  12. Alice in Chains — Rooster
  13. Alice in Chains — Sea of Sorrow
  14. Alice in Chains — Down in a Hole
  15. Alice in Chains — Them Bones
  16. Alien Ant Farm — Smooth Criminal
  17. Animals — We Gotta Get Out of This Place
  18. Arthur Brown — Fire
  19. Bangles — Walk Like an Egyptian
  20. Barenaked Ladies — Falling for the First Time
  21. Barry McGuire — Eve of Destruction
  22. Beastie Boys — Sure Shot
  23. Beastie Boys — Sabotage
  24. The Beatles — A Day in the Life
  25. The Beatles — Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
  26. The Beatles — Ticket To Ride
  27. The Beatles — Obla Di, Obla Da
  28. Billy Joel — Only the Good Die Young
  29. Black Sabbath — War Pigs
  30. Black Sabbath — Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
  31. Blood Sweat and Tears — And When I Die
  32. Blue Oyster Cult — Burnin’ For You
  33. Bob Dylan/Guns N Roses — Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
  34. Bobby Darin — Mack the Knife
  35. Boston — Smokin’
  36. Brooklyn Bridge — Worst That Could Happen
  37. Bruce Springsteen — I’m On Fire
  38. Bruce Springsteen — Goin’ Down
  39. Bruce Springstein — War
  40. Buddy Holly and the Crickets — That’ll Be the Day
  41. Bush — Speed Kills
  42. Carole King — I Feel the Earth Move
  43. Cat Stevens — Peace Train
  44. Cat Stevens — Morning Has Broken
  45. Chi-Lites — Have You Seen Her
  46. The Clash — Rock the Casbah
  47. Creedence Clearwater Revival — Travelin’ Band
  48. The Cult — Fire Woman
  49. Dave Clark Five — Bits and Pieces
  50. Dave Matthews Band — Crash Into Me
  51. Dio — Holy Diver
  52. Don McLean — American Pie
  53. The Doors — The End
  54. Drifters — On Broadway
  55. Drowning Pool — Bodies
  56. Edwin Starr — War
  57. Elton John — Benny & The Jets
  58. Elton John — Daniel
  59. Elton John — Rocket Man
  60. Elvis — (You’re the) Devil in Disguise
  61. Everclear — Santa Monica
  62. Filter — Hey Man, Nice Shot
  63. Fontella Bass — Rescue Me
  64. Foo Fighters — Learn to Fly
  65. Jimi Hendrix — Hey Joe
  66. Frank Sinatra — New York, New York
  67. Fuel — Bad Day
  68. The Gap Band — You Dropped a Bomb On Me
  69. Godsmack — Bad Religion
  70. Green Day — Brain Stew
  71. Happenings — See You in September
  72. Herman’s Hermits — Wonderful World
  73. Hollies — He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
  74. Frank Wilson — Last Kiss
  75. Jackson Brown — Doctor My Eyes
  76. James Taylor — Fire and Rain
  77. Jan and Dean — Dead Man’s Curve
  78. Jerry Lee Lewis — Great Balls of Fire
  79. Jimi Hendrix — Hey Joe
  80. John Lennon — Imagine
  81. John Mellencamp — Crumbling Down
  82. John Mellencamp — I’m On Fire
  83. John Parr — St. Elmo’s Fire
  84. Judas Priest — Some Heads Are Gonna Roll
  85. Kansas — Dust in the Wind
  86. Korn — Falling Away From Me
  87. Led Zeppelin — Stairway to Heaven
  88. Lenny Kravitz — Fly Away
  89. Limp Bizkit — Break Stuff
  90. Local H — Bound for the Floor
  91. Los Bravos — Black is Black
  92. Louis Armstrong — What A Wonderful World
  93. Lynyrd Skynyrd — Tuesday’s Gone
  94. Martha & the Vandellas — Nowhere to Run
  95. Martha & the Vandellas — Dancing in the Streets
  96. Megadeth — Dread and the Fugitive
  97. Megadeth — Sweating Bullets
  98. Metallica — Seek and Destroy
  99. Metallica — Harvester or Sorrow
  100. Metallica — Enter Sandman
  101. Metallica — Fade to Black
  102. Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels — Devil with the Blue Dress
  103. Mudvayne — Death Blooms
  104. Neil Diamond — America
  105. Nina — 99 Luft Balloons/99 Red Balloons
  106. Nine Inch Nails — Head Like a Hole
  107. Norman Greenbaum — Spirit in the Sky
  108. Oingo Boingo — Dead Man’s Party
  109. Ozzy Osbourne — Suicide Solution
  110. Paper Lace — The Night Chicago Died
  111. Pat Benatar — Hit Me with Your Best Shot
  112. Pat Benatar — Love is a Battlefield
  113. Paul McCartney and Wings — Live and Let Die
  114. Peter Gabriel — When You’re Falling
  115. Peter and Gordon — I Go To Pieces
  116. Peter and Gordon — A World Without Love
  117. Peter Paul and Mary — Blowin’ in the Wind
  118. Peter Paul and Mary — Leavin’ on a Jet Plane
  119. Petula Clark — A Sign of the Times
  120. Phil Collins — In the Air Tonight
  121. Pink Floyd — Run Like Hell
  122. Pink Floyd — Mother
  123. O.D.- Boom
  124. Pretenders — My City Was Gone
  125. Queen — Another One Bites the Dust
  126. Queen — Killer Queen
  127. All Rage Against The Machine songs
  128. Red Hot Chili Peppers — Aeroplane
  129. Red Hot Chili Peppers — Under the Bridge
  130. REM — It’s the End of the World as We Know It
  131. Rickey Nelson — Travelin’ Man
  132. Rolling Stones — Ruby Tuesday
  133. Saliva — Click Click Boom
  134. Sam Cooke — Wonderful World
  135. Santana — Evil Ways
  136. Savage Garden — Crash and Burn
  137. Shelly Fabares — Johnny Angel
  138. Simon And Garfunkel — Bridge Over Troubled Water
  139. Skeeter Davis — End of the World
  140. Slipknot — Left Behind
  141. Slipknot — Wait and Bleed
  142. Smashing Pumpkins — Bullet With Butterfly Wings
  143. Soundgarden — Blow Up the Outside World
  144. Soundgarden — Fell on Black Days
  145. Soundgarden — Black Hole Sun
  146. Steam — Na Na Na Na Hey Hey
  147. Steve Miller — Jet Airliner
  148. Stone Temple Pilots — Big Bang Baby
  149. Stone Temple Pilots — Dead and Bloated
  150. Sugar Ray — Fly
  151. Surfaris — Wipeou
  152. System of a Down — Chop Suey!
  153. Talking Heads — Burning Down the House
  154. Temple of the Dog — Say Hello to Heaven
  155. Third Eye Blind — Jumper
  156. Three Degrees — When Will I See You Again
  157. Tom Petty — Free Fallin’
  158. Tool — Intolerance
  159. Tramps — Disco Inferno
  160. U2 — Sunday Bloody Sunday
  161. Van Halen — Dancing In The Street
  162. Van Halen — Jump
  163. Yager and Evans — In the Year 2525
  164. Youngbloods — Get Together
  165. Zombies — She’s Not There

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