Ongoing History Daily: On-stage accidents

Accidents happen at work, and the stage is no exception. Ask Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She climbed a speaker stack during a set in Sydney in 2003 and managed to concuss herself when it all came down. To her credit, she climbed back on stage and attempted to finish the show.

Muse’s Matt Bellamy also tried to soldier on in 2004 when he smacked himself in the face with his guitar at an Atlanta gig. He tried to keep singing, but his mouth wouldn’t stop filling with blood. It took a few quick stitches at the hospital to fix that issue.

Then there was the case where Metallica’s James Hetfield almost got BBQed  back in 1992. At a show in Montreal, he got too close to some on-stage magnesium-based pyro that burned at 1,000 degrees. He was sent to the hospital with second- and third-degree burns.