Singlen blev forbudt på flere amerikanske radiostationer, da ordet 'rumble' var slang for gadekamp, og flere anså, at den rå lyd på indspilningen hyldede ungdomsuroligheder.<ref name=RS/> Singlen er det eneste stykke instrumentalmusik, der nogensinde er blevet forbudt i USA.<ref name=Rodriguez2005>{{cite book |first=Robert A. |last=Rodriguez |title=The 1950s' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Rock & Roll Rebels, Cold War Crises, and All-American Oddities |publisher=Potomac Books |date=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1EH1oSHWRjMC&pg=PA94 |page=94 |isbn=978-1-57488-715-0 |lccn=2004013424 |quotation='Rumble' has the distinction of being the only instrumental single banned from the radio airwaves.&nbsp;... a song with such a provocative name and such menace to its power chords, could only spell trouble for impressionable listeners.}}</ref><ref name=Tushnet2017>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9SdDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |title=Free Speech Beyond Words: The Surprising Reach of the First Amendment |date=2017 |page=30 |chapter=Instrumental Music and the First Amendment |first1=Mark V. |last1=Tushnet |author1-link=Mark Tushnet |first2=Alan K. |last2=Chen |first3=Joseph |last3=Blocher |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-1-4798-8028-7 |lccn=2016590840 |oclc=946161367 |quote=Nongovernmental institutions that control forums for musical expression have also played a censoring role. For example, in 1959, federally licensed American radio stations refused to broadcast the purely instrumental Link Wray song 'Rumble' on the basis of its title's association with street violence.}}</ref>
Musik