9 Musicians Who Wiped Out While Performing
Performing live is exhilarating, but for these musicians who wiped out onstage, it can also be dangerous. Sometimes, an onstage fall barely even slows down a concert. For other musicians, it can land them in the hospital. Here are nine artists who have taken a tumble during a performance.
Alice Cooper
In 1975, Alice Cooper was performing in Vancouver when a prop sent him careening off the stage.
“I was using a toy box as a prop and it fell over and knocked me off the stage,” he said, per Ultimate Classic Rock. “I cracked my ribs and hit my head on the cement floor. I put my hand on my head and it felt like a baseball. But we came back on in that old ‘show-must-go-on’ bit.”
He returned to the stage for a few more songs despite having a concussion and broken ribs. Afterward, he promised fans he would do his best to continue his tour.
“I’m going to try. I think I can,” Cooper said. “But my ribs hurt when I try to catch my breath. I tried to sing and couldn’t get any volume.”
This was not his last onstage tumble. Years later, Cooper broke two ribs when he fell during rehearsals for a show.
Madonna
During a performance at the Brit Awards in 2015, Madonna fell because of a cape she was wearing. It was tied so tight that she couldn’t remove it as planned, and she explained that she had the choice to be “strangled or fall, and I chose to fall.” She suffered whiplash as a result.
“I didn’t hurt my butt, but I hurt my head,” she said, per The Guardian. “I had a little bit of whiplash, I smacked the back of my head. I had a man standing over me with a flashlight until about 3 am to make sure I was compos mentis.”
Steven Tyler
While performing “Love in an Elevator” at a show in 2009, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler fell backward off the stage. He received minor head, neck, and shoulder injuries; as a result, he was airlifted to the hospital.
“He was good natured about it,” Mike Sanborn, a spokesperson for the venue, told Billboard. “He was in good spirits when he got in the helicopter. He was talking and joking with the physician.”
Bono
At a show in Chicago, U2’s Bono was performing “Lights of Home.” As he made his way down a staircase, he fell, prompting gasps from the audience. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt and was able to continue performing without incident.
The Edge
Bono isn’t the only member of U2 to have fallen during a performance. In 2015, bandmate The Edge accidentally walked offstage during the final song of the night. He was in good spirits about it, though, later posting to Instagram to joke, “Didn’t see the edge, I’m OK!!”
Axl Rose
In 2019, Guns N’ Roses were covering “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” during a concert. Toward the end of the song, Axl Rose was walking backward when he slipped and fell. He wiped off the ground with a towel before continuing on with the show.
Per iHeartRadio, he later joked that he “busted my a** for you guys.”
Prince
During a 1998 show in Atlantic City, a fog machine made the stage so slippery that both Prince and his tour partner, Chaka Khan, slipped and fell during their sets. Per MTV, Chaka Khan was not injured, but Prince sprained his ankle. As a result, he had to reschedule the next several shows on the tour.
Patti Smith
During a 1977 show, Patti Smith tumbled off a 15-foot stage after hitting her foot on a monitor that was too close to the edge. The fall was a severe one, and she broke vertebrae in her neck.
“It pissed me off but it’s nothing I’m gonna sue anybody over,” she said, per Ultimate Classic Rock.
Smith admitted that she dealt with pain from her injury years afterward.
“I still get discomfort, spinal discomfort,” she said. “It’s nothing I can’t live with.”
Bob Dylan
An honorable mention here is Bob Dylan. Though he didn’t fall all the way over, he came close to it in his rush to scold his audience. Fed up with their phone use, he stepped away from the microphone and backed into a monitor, nearly wiping out.
Irritated — and likely a little embarrassed — he scolded his audience and played an abbreviated version of “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” before leaving the stage for the night.
