10 Infamous Onstage Injuries

Onstage injuries during stage performances have become highly prevalent in the music world. Many singers, performers, artists and musicians were caught on videos falling offstage, falling prey to the nearby pyrotechnic and few crazy performers have jumped from the stage themselves. There are many musicians who have willingly broken their legs and foot for the sake of their fans. Year after years, the onstage injury trend has increased. Some of the onstage injuries listed here are famous, funny and awfully painful. The list comprises of musicians from rock bands, jazz bands, pop bands and solo performers.

10. Michael Clifford, 5 Seconds of Summer

The young Michael Clifford burned his face during the performance for the pop band 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS). The guitarist suffered burn injuries on his face when he accidentally walked into a pyrotechnic display. This onstage accident stopped the show midway. The band was performing “She Looks so Perfect” in London on June 13th 2015 when this unfortunate incident happened.

9. Krist Novoselic, Nirvana

The famous bassist Krist Novoselic from the band Nirvana knocked his head with his bass guitar during the 1992 MTV Music Awards. The band was performing their famous hit song Lithium. Krist Novoselic thought tossing the bass in the air would be a stylish thing to do onstage, but everything didn’t go as expected as the bass guitar came right on to his head knocking him down. Luckily it was the end of the show.

8. Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias was injured by a drone during the Tijuana concert in Mexico, when Enrique tried to catch the flying drone. The drone sliced his fingers severely, but the singer continued to sing for another 30 minutes. He bled during the entire show leaving his white tees with blood. After the show, he was immediately flown to LA to check with a specialist.

7. Frank Zappa

It was a real bad day for Frank Zappa. Frank Zappa was knocked off from the stage by an angry fan at the London’s Rainbow Theatre in 1971 that resulted in multiple injuries to his head, neck and back.

“The band thought I was dead,” he said in his autobiography ‘The Real Frank Zappa Book’ “My head was over on my shoulder, and my neck was bent like it was broken. I had a gash in my chin, a hole in the back of my head, a broken rib and a fractured leg. One arm was paralyzed.”

6. Pete Townshend

Pete Townshend is one of the most influential song writers in the 20th century. Pete Townshend is known for his popular ‘windmill’ move. Pete Townshend has never gone wrong with his famous ‘windmill’ move using his guitar until one day he hurts his hand badly with the guitar chord. The trademark move was one of rock and rolls much desired idiosyncrasies. Pete never before went wrong with the move that had already been performed millions of times by 1989. Though, Pete was hurt he continued to perform the song ‘Won’t get Fooled Again‘.

5. Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf is one of the greatest artists of all time in the hard rock genre. Meat Loaf had his worst day of his life, when he broke his leg while performing during a show in Ottawa in 1978. He was supporting for Bat out of Hell. He managed and continued to tour with his broken limb rolling on his wheelchair. This injury led Meat Loaf into drug addiction. Meat Loaf is known for his aggressive and fast performance onstage.

4. Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters

June 2015, Dave Grohl broke his leg while performing in Go Sweden. Dave lay on the grounds for few minutes before being taken back-stage. Dave promised the audience that the show will be finished. Dave’s legs were bandaged and as promised he returned to finish the show. Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl finished the show on a wheelchair.

3. Steven Tyler, Aerosmith

Steven Tyler had a nasty fall off stage during a show in South Dakota in 2009. Steven Tyler tried few dance steps and in the act loses his balance and falls below injuring his neck, head and shoulder. Aerosmith canceled only one show after the accident. The band was performing for the song Love in an Elevator when this nasty fall happened.

2. James Hetfield, Metallica

James Hatfield is another famous victim to fire accident of pyrotechnics. Metallica is known for its energy and fire in all their shows. James Hatfield burnt himself very badly when he fell prey to the nearby pyrotechnic during a show in Montreal in 1992. The accident happened during the opening of “Fade to Black”, when the pyrotechnic kicked off James didn’t know where he was supposed to stand and the fire burnt him from top to bottom including his face. He returned to the tour to finish off the show, but eventually he had to be taken to the hospital.

1. Florence Welch, Florence + the Machine

Dave is not the only one who broke the leg for their fans, Florence Welch broke her foot when she jumped off stage during a music festival in California. This awful accident happened in April 2015, during the Coachella Music Festival. The British musician went too excited and leaped off stage that broke and damaged her foot badly. She promised her fans that she will be back to business soon. She also updated her Instagram with the x-ray of her foot.