Snoop Dogg's U.K. Visa Ban Lifted

Snoop Dogg's attempts to reenter the United Kingdom have been rebuffed for the last four years after the Doggystyle rapper was essentially banned from the country following an airport fight in 2006. However, immigration judges in the U.K. have ruled that border guards acted unfairly when they detained the Doggfather and will allow the rapper to re-apply for a tour visa. There's no guarantee he'll be approved, however, the BBC reports.

Facing the music: rock-star mug shots.

In 2006, members of Snoop's entourage got into an altercation with border guards, and Snoop was arrested in the process. After plotting a tour of the U.K. with Diddy in 2007, Snoop was denied a travel visa. The ruling to ban Snoop from England was overturned in 2008, but the Border Agency continued to contest the MC's entry over safety concerns. As Rolling Stone also reported around this time, Snoop was banned from Australia after failing a strict character test. Almost immediately following the Heathrow Airport incident, the international trouble-making Snoop was busted in Stockholm, Sweden on suspicion of drug use.

Related Stories:
• Australia Reconsiders Unbanning Snoop Dogg
• Snoop Dogg Vs. Australia, Round 2: The Quest for Citizenship
• Snoop Denies Gang Ties, Professes Message Of Peace

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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