Sometimes, fans just don’t know how to act. And with how chaotic live rock concerts can be, coupled with often unrestricted access to alcohol, some fan-and-rock-star interactions can turn dangerous very quickly. Let’s take a look at a few cautionary tales of rock stars who barely made it out alive after fans started getting violent.
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1. Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams has been in the music world for a while, starting his career in the boy band Take That. The soft rock iconic is no stranger to suspicious fan interactions. However, one incident in 2001 was nonetheless surprising.
While on his solo Sermon On The Mount Tour, Williams was performing in Germany when a fan suddenly rushed to his spot on the stage and shoved him violently off the edge. Williams hit the floor (and another fan) and was seriously bruised. Magically, Williams did not sustain a head injury despite hitting his head on the way down.
2. Lou Reed
Rock stars tend to deal with violent fans at more… intense live performances. So, it’s wild to imagine someone acting up at a Lou Reed or Velvet Underground concert. However, that’s exactly what happened back in the day during a New York performance.
During a set with The Velvet Underground, someone in the crowd screamed, ran through security, and promptly bit Reed on his rear. The security team eventually got the offender off of Reed, and Reed was surprisingly undisturbed. Human bites can be extremely dangerous… sometimes even more dangerous than an animal bite.
“America seems to breed real animals,” Reed said later on of the spectacle.
3. Angus Young
AC/DC’s Angus Young was on stage with his band in 2000 at a venue in Arizona. During the set, a fan in the crowd continuously provoked the guitarist. More or less ignored, the fan took things a step further and launched a glass of beer at Young during a performance of “Badboy Boogie”.
Young stayed calm at first and simply pointed the individual out to security. Then, another glass flew at him, which led the guitarist to remove his axe and start marching toward the disgruntled fan. Surprisingly, though, Young didn’t throw a punch. He simply gave the fan a good tongue lashing, all while holding the fan’s nose shut with his fingers. Security later escorted him out. Somehow, Young didn’t sustain any serious cuts or injuries from the glass.
Photo by Ilpo Musto/Shutterstock
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