Watching your favorite artist perform at a concert or live show provides a completely different experience than simply listening to their music at home or in the car. As a concertgoer, you get to physically watch the artist firsthand as they work the stage, interact with fans, and pour all their energy into a live performance.
While it’s not uncommon to see fans in the crowd holding up signs that declare their love and adoration for an artist or see flowers and mementos tossed on stage, there are some fans who have taken a rather unconventional approach in both showing their affection as well trying to gain attention from artists at concerts.
Unfortunately, their impulsive behavior ultimately garnered the wrong type of attention and, in some cases, resulted in not only being removed from a show but also being faced with criminal charges.
From hurling a rogue cowboy boot to a loved one’s remains to a plethora of edible items, here are ten outlandish items that have made their way onstage at concerts.
Related: Top 10 Performances In Rock Music History?
10 A Baby
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The K-pop group known as NMIXX made its debut as a seven-member girl group on February 22, 2022. They released their first single album, Ad Mare, which consisted of two songs, “O.O” and “Tank.” The music video for “O.O” gained over 90 million views on YouTube.
The girls—Lily, Sullyoon, Haewon, Jiwoo, Kyujin, BAE, and Jinni—gained attention for their colorful music videos and impressive vocals, an experimental sound they refer to as “MIXX POP.” Jinni, however, later announced that she was leaving the group on December 9, 2022, and terminated her contract with JYP Entertainment.
The now six-member group kicked off their first-ever showcase tour called NICE TO MIXX YOU, which would take the group to cities in both North America and Asia. Given that this was the group’s first tour, they were undoubtedly shocked to find a “tiny intruder” on stage with them during their Seattle, Washington, show on May 2, 2023.
Apparently, one of the concertgoers brought their baby along to the show. As Kyujin was in the middle of her set, the mother placed the baby up on the stage. Thankfully, Kyujin spotted the tiny tot and quickly rushed to pick up the baby before returning it to its mother.
Another attendee captured the entire interaction on video and later posted it on Twitter, where the video went viral. Thankfully, the baby was not hurt during the incident, and the show went on as planned.[1]
9 Ashes
Alecia Beth Moore, the artist known as Pink, began her music career singing backup for a hip-hop band and later singing with a rhythm-and-blues band called Basic Instinct. When Basic Instinct disbanded, she went on to sing with an all-female group named Choice.
It was at this time that Moore chose the name Pink as her stage name, a reference to the Reservoir Dogs character Mr. Pink. However, the group Choice also disbanded, and Pink went on to pursue a solo career, releasing her first album Can’t Take Me Home in 2000.
Since then, Pink’s career has only grown more successful, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the world’s best-selling artists. She has also appeared in several films, voiced a character in the animated movie Happy Feet Two, and was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2013.
Pink kicked off her Summer Carnival 2023 Tour on June 7, 2023, and even after being in the music industry for decades, nothing could have prepared the pop-rock artist for the unconventional “gift” she would receive on June 25, 2023.
As Pink sang her hit song “Just Like a Pill” during a two-part BST Hyde Park concert in London, England, someone in the audience tossed a “plastic bag containing powdery gray ashes” at the singer’s feet. Naturally thrown off guard, Pink stopped singing, held up the bag, and questioned the concertgoer regarding the contents.
The attendee confirmed that the bag did indeed contain her late mother’s ashes, to which Pink responded, “I don’t know how I feel about this.” Pink then placed the alleged ashes on stage before resuming her song.[2]
8 Boot to the Groin
Country music artist Kane Brown got his first taste of stardom after winning an 11th-grade school talent show with his rendition of the Chris Young song “Gettin’ You Home.” Brown continued his pursuit of a country music career through auditions with the TV music competition shows American Idol and The X Factor. But it wasn’t until Brown began posting videos of himself singing cover songs on Facebook in 2014 that he began gaining attention for his vocal ability.
In 2015, Brown released his debut EP Closer thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign and was later signed to RCA Nashville in 2016. Brown has found continued success as he uses his deep baritone voice and cross-genre collaborations to break the traditional molds of country music.
Brown began the U.S. version of his Drunk or Dreaming Tour on March 16, 2023. During his Wichita, Kansas, concert on April 13, 2023, he was greeted with a gift that quite literally brought him to his knees, yet not for the reason one might assume.
During the show, a fan asked Brown to sign her cowboy boot, and although he asked her to wait, the impatient fan “chucked the boot on stage,” hitting Brown in the groin during his performance of “One Right Thing.” Ironically, Brown was approaching the line in the song that says I was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was struck by the boot.
Brown bent over, took a knee, and finished the song performance, although he had to lie down on his back to do so. Even in light of the painful incident, Brown still went on to sign the boot and then sent it back into the audience.
Another fan in attendance captured the excruciating exchange on camera and later posted the video to TikTok.[3]
7 Chicken Nuggets
Harry Styles’s music career got its start when his mother encouraged him to audition for the British music competition television show The X Factor in 2010, where he performed a rendition of the Stevie Wonder song “Isn’t She Lovely.”
Although Styles didn’t advance in the competition, he was later recalled and joined Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson, competing as a group that would later become known as One Direction. The group released its debut album in 2011 and went on to have four more successful albums before deciding to take a break in 2016.
Styles then pursued a solo career and released his debut single, “Sign of the Times,” in 2017, which topped the UK singles chart. However, given the COVID-19 pandemic, Styles could not tour to promote his second and third albums—Fine Line and Harry’s House—but in September 2021, he kicked off his Love on Tour shows as an homage to both albums.
Unfortunately, as Styles performed in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on August 27, 2022, one concertgoer took a rather peculiar approach to get Styles’s attention. They pelted the pescatarian artist with a couple of cold chicken nuggets.
“Very interesting, very interesting approach,” Styles remarked as he held the nugget up in his hand and asked the crowd who threw it before finding another piece at his feet. While the crowd then tried to encourage Styles to eat it, he refused to eat the seemingly old, cold nugget, stating that he doesn’t eat meat or chicken.
Thankfully, Styles took the entire incident in stride. He then asked the fan if they wanted the nugget back before flinging it into the audience and advising the fan not to eat or go looking for the nugget.[4]
6 Dead Fish
Liam Gallagher, along with his friends Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan, and Tony McCarrol, formed a band called The Rain in Manchester, England, in 1991. Liam’s brother, Noel Gallagher, later joined the band, and the name was changed to Oasis. The group topped the UK singles charts eight times and, to date, has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.
Unfortunately, the group split in August 2009 due to an argument between the two brothers.
Liam and the three other members of Oasis went on to form the band Beady Eye in 2009, but the rock group also later split in October 2014. Liam then pursued a solo career by releasing his debut album As You Were in 2017.
Gallagher later performed as a solo artist at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in Spain on July 22, 2018. However, one of the attendees seemed less than thrilled with his performance and decided to surprise the rock star by tossing a dead fish on stage.
Just as Gallagher was about to begin the song “Cigarettes and Alcohol,” he noticed the smelly surprise, causing him to go into a rant questioning who the culprit was, saying a few choice expletives, and then assuring the crowd that the show wasn’t bad enough to warrant the flying fish. Gallagher stopped the set, had a roadie remove the fish, and then went on with the performance of “Cigarettes and Alcohol” as planned.[5]
5 Phone
The singer-songwriter known as Bebe Rexha was born to Albanian parents with the name Bleta Rexha. Given that her birth name means bee in Albanian, Rexha chose the nickname Bebe for herself.
Rexha’s love of music and songwriting began as a young child, and she eventually went on to win songwriting awards as a teenager. However, Rexha got her first big break as a songwriter by co-writing the Grammy-award-winning song “The Monster,” performed by Eminem and Rihanna.
Rexha also wrote songs for artists such as Selena Gomez, Iggy Azalea, and Nick Jonas. She also sang for Pete Wentz’s ska-dance project Black Cards before signing with Warner Music as a solo artist in 2013.
Sadly, Rexha was recently injured after being hit by a cell phone, all thanks to a concertgoer who “thought it would be funny to hit her with a phone at the end of the show.”
Rexha was hit above the eye by the flying projectile while performing at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City on June 18, 2023, causing her to stumble and double over before being escorted backstage by her crew. She was then taken by EMS to a local hospital, where she received stitches above her left eye. Rexha later posted a picture of her injuries to social media, revealing a cut below her eyebrow and bruising.
The concertgoer, 27-year-old Nicolas Malvagna, confessed to the incident and was taken into custody at the scene. On June 19, 2023, he was arraigned, facing two charges of assault, one charge of aggravated harassment, one charge of attempted harassment, and one charge of harassment.[6]
4 Wheel of Brie Cheese
And here’s Pink’s second entry on this list. During Pink’s two-day show at London’s Hyde Park, the artist was showered with a variety of gifts, from a plethora of frog teddies to Maltesers candy and even a sleeveless denim jacket that had Pink’s face stenciled on it, fittingly with the color pink.
Pink was interacting with fans and giving air hugs during her performance of “F–kin’ Perfect” on June 24, 2023, when she was met with an offering from the crowd—a 6-pound (2.7-kilogram) wheel of Brie de Meaux cheese.
Upon seeing the massive wheel of cheese, Pink dropped to her knees, ready to receive the gift with open arms. Once it made its way to her, Pink cradled the cheese in her arms and thanked the fan, seemingly much more pleased with this gift than the ashes she received on June 25, 2023.
The entire exchange was captured on video by another concert attendee and later posted on TikTok.[7]
3 Cup of Ice
Long before Luke Combs became the country music star he is now, he attended Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, as a business major. But he later switched his major to criminal justice, with an interest in becoming a homicide detective.
During his college years, he worked nights at the Town Tavern bar while also living in a tiny apartment above the bar. Combs, however, aspired to change his security gig and become a source of entertainment for the bar patrons. Thanks to an audition after last call where Combs performed the Garth Brooks song “Friends in Low Places,” Justin Davis, the bar owner, agreed to give Combs a weekly gig.
After finding his purpose as a musician, Combs dropped out of college a month before the end of his senior year and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, shortly after that. There, he released and recorded his own music, building his fan base, before being signed by Sony Music’s Columbia Nashville in 2016.
Given the hard work and determination it has taken for Combs to get where he is today, he is not one to tolerate interruptions to his shows. Unfortunately, one Canadian country fan learned this lesson the hard way.
On November 17, 2022, Combs was putting on a show at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa, Canada. As he was performing “Even Though I’m Leaving” (an emotional song that details the pain a child experiences after losing a parent), someone in the audience chucked a cup full of ice on stage, hitting Combs square in the chest.
Combs finished the song, all while keeping his eye on the culprit. However, once the song was over, Combs did not shy away from expressing his frustration, and the concertgoer was escorted out of the arena by security.[8]
2 Skittles
Unfortunately, cold chicken nuggets are not the only projectile that has made its way on stage during a Harry Styles concert.
On November 14, 2022, Styles was performing in Los Angeles, California, for his Love on Tour. However, as he was singing “As It Was” and blowing kisses to his fans, he was pelted by Skittles and hit in the eye.
While Styles naturally grabbed his face in an attempt to shield his eyes from harm, he still managed to maintain his composure, take his bows, and thank fans for coming to the show.
The incident was captured on video and posted to both Twitter and TikTok, with the video later going viral. (Link 59)
In response, the candy brand Skittles posted a tweet on November 15, 2022, stating, “Didn’t think I needed to say this: Please don’t throw Skittles,” before going on to place a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times on November 19, 2022, that read, “Protect the rainbow. Taste the rainbow. But please, don’t throw the rainbow.”[9]
1 Prosthetic Leg
Australian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Keith Urban quit school at the age of 15 to pursue a career in country music.
Urban formed his own three-piece band in 1988, and in 1990, he won an award at an Australian country music festival, leading to a record deal with EMI Music Australia. Urban released his self-titled album in 1991 and relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, a year later.
Once in Nashville, Urban formed a band named The Ranch, but when a medical condition left him unable to sing, The Ranch disbanded. Urban went on to play guitar for artists such as Garth Brooks and the Chicks before releasing his first American solo album in 1999, when he was able to sing again.
While signing autographs has no doubt come as second nature to Urban, in 2018, during an interview on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, he revealed how one fan asking for an autograph turned into a bizarre event he has never forgotten.
During one of Urban’s shows, a fan yelled out and asked if he would sign her leg. Urban agreed and ushered the fan up to the stage. However, what Urban was unaware of was that the woman had a prosthetic leg. As Urban tried to find the woman in the crowd, assuming she was making her way through people and up to the stage, he was met with a prosthetic leg being “lobbed” through the air and landing on the stage with a thud.
Nevertheless, Urban made good on his promise and signed the leg. Unfortunately, he was left with the dilemma as to how to properly return the prosthetic device to the woman. Thankfully, the audience assisted and crowd-surfed the leg back to its rightful owner.[10]