Punk rock, or simply punk, is a music genre that evolved from garage bands and rock and roll of the 60s and 70s as a form of protest music featuring topics like radical politics and sociology in their lyrics. Punk has its origins in both the US and UK music scenes. The 80s brought more wide-ranging success to established bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, as well as a newfound popularity the genre had never seen before. Newcomers like The Clash, Billy Idol, The Misfits, Bad Religion, and Dead Kennedys appeared on charts and were played on rock radio across the nation.

However, punk music has always butted against the mainstream, with punk musicians going out of their way to stir controversy and stoke the fears of suburban parents everywhere with the threat of radicalizing teens against authority. Punk and heavy metal music of the 80s played a large role in the stoking of the Satanic Panic conspiracy theories of the late 80s and 90s; attempts to censor this type of music were widespread. Most successful was the Parents Music Resource Center, founded by Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore; this organization managed a campaign to put warnings on music CDs according to their “Filthy Fifteen” list, which included pop, rock, and metal songs with explicit, violent, or sexual lyrics that the organization felt children should be protected from.