W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless has revisited his band's brush with the Parents' Music Resource Center (PMRC) in the mid-1980s, arguing in a new interview that the campaign was never really about censoring music. He claimed the initiative was instead driven by an attempt to help Al Gore, then a US senator, gain political prominence en route to the White House, with W.A.S.P. and other acts singled out simply to generate attention. The comments add to Lawless's long-running public reflections on an episode that shaped his career and personal life.

Speaking to Rock At Night magazine, Lawless said the PMRC's efforts "didn't change things for us one way or the other" beyond making the band a "household word", but insisted that fame alone did not affect fan relationships or record sales. W.A.S.P. was among acts including AC/DC, Madonna, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest and Twisted Sister named on the PMRC's 1985 "Filthy Fifteen" list of songs deemed objectionable, a campaign that led the RIAA to introduce "Parental Advisory" stickers in November 1985. Lawless has previously described the fallout as life-altering, recalling death threats, bomb scares and being shot at, which he said pushed him towards a more reclusive lifestyle.