The Traumatizing 1979 Heart Concert Mishap That Spawned False Reports of Ann and Nancy Wilson’s Death: “It Collapsed on Top of Us”

Seeing your favorite band suffer an accident on stage could be traumatizing for fans, especially when the accident looks fatal. Something that grave hasn’t happened to many artists, but it did occur to Heart.

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In 1979, Ann and Nancy Wilson traveled to Japan to play a series of shows alongside the Beach Boys. During one of these shows, the band suffered an on-stage mishap that led the audience to believe Heart had died right in front of them. Learn more about this frightful Heart concert below.

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The Heart Concert Mishap That Left Fans “Pretty Shaken Up”

The final date of Heart’s Japanese stint took place at the Fushimi Momoyama Castle in Kyoto. The venue had housed soldiers and even survived a massive earthquake. Needless to say, those walls had stories to tell.

They earned another story as Heart took the stage amid a storm. The rain kept getting “worse and worse,” according to Ann Wilson.

“Soon, the stage, which was covered by a flat tarp, began collecting water,” Wilson once said of this Heart concert. “The tarp sprouted leaks, which eventually turned into waterfalls; pretty soon the roof had collected so much water, it collapsed on top of us.”

“The light truss started to fall, but so slowly that we saw it coming and got out of the way,” She added. “Our drummer and bass player were stuck underneath. One minute we were rockin’ out, and the next minute the roof was on our heads. This gasp-like moan went up from the audience when they lost sight of us. And that was the end of the show.”

We could see why that would be alarming to the audience…Although they managed to survive the collapse, the Japanese media continued to focus on worst-case scenarios.

“The radio later reported a terrible tragedy in which we all died,” Wilson continued. “Meanwhile, we were back at the hotel, pretty shaken up. We drank a lot of sake that night and contemplated our karma.”

Recording

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Luckily for Heart fans, we don’t have to imagine what the audience’s reaction must have been during that concert. A bootleg recording reveals the gasps of audience members as the stage collapsed over the band.

Check out that recording below.

(Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)