This is horrible: A musician was electrocuted after he hugged a wet fan

Ayres Sasaki was a Brazilian rocker who was playing just another show at the Solar Hotel in the city of Salinopolis on July 13. Things were going very well–so well, in fact, that a fan raced up onstage and gave him a big hug.

For some reason, though, the fan was soaking wet and much of that dampness was transferred to Sasaki. He then stepped back toward his gear and was instantly electrocuted, falling dead right there on stage.

No one knows how the fan got wet or how exactly Sasaki got shocked.

Such accidents are exceedinglky rare these days, but it has happened.

• In 1972, Les Harvey, the guitarist in Scotland’s Stone the Crow, died onstage when he touched an ungrounded microphone with wet hands.
• Argentinian guitarist Agustin Briolini died onstage in 2014 when he moved toward a mic during the first song of a set.
• Barbara Weldons, a French singer, was electrocuted to death onstage as the result of an equipment malfunction.

There have been innumerable close calls, too. Here are just a few of them.

• Keith Richards came into contact with an electrified mic stand that resulted in a big blue spark, sending him backwards. But because it’s Keef, he was fine.
• Nick Lowe had a near-death experience thanks to an ungrounded mic. The only thing that saved him was a bandmember kicking away the mic stand.
• Ace Frehely of KISS wasn’t grounded when he touched a metal railing during a show. He says “My life passed before my eyes.”
• Stereophonic’s Kelly Jones got a nasty shock from a mic stand in 2005. He was able to get back to the gig after a short break.
• Moby was shocked hard enough to be knocked over during a show in 2011. He remained on the ground for a full 30 seconds before he was able to get up and resume the performance.
• Frankie Palmeri of the band Emmunre was shocked so bad during a show in Moscow in 2013 that he couldn’t continue. The rest of the gig was canceled.
• Grimes was shocked by her earpiece during a show in 2016 in Dublin. It hurt a lot but she was okay.
• Nolberto, a Dominican singer, was onstage in Argentina, he touched a metal pole, completing an electric circuit. He actually started to smoke before he was rescued.
• Fantom, the singer for a Haitian hip-hop group called Barikad Crew, was electrocuted during a music festival. He was rushed to the hospital and revived.

(With a contribution from Christopher)