10 Craziest Times Things Were Thrown at Musicians On Stage

Top 10 Craziest Times Things Were Thrown at Musicians on Stage

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Craziest Times Things Were Thrown at Musicians on Stage.

For this list, we’ll be ranking the wildest instances where fans got a little too excited at concerts and ended up tossing some sort of object at the artist.

What are your thoughts on this kind of behavior? Let us know in the comments.

#10: Smartphone

Bebe Rexa
The man arrested for throwing a cell phone at Bebe Rexa during a June 2023 concert has been quoted as saying the act was “funny.” We beg to differ about this bit of bad taste and poor judgment, since there’s really nothing funny about interrupting a performer on stage. Rexa suffered an obvious shiner as a result of the incident, and the man in question, Nicolas Malvagna, was arraigned in a New York City court on felony assault and harassment charges. Although a photo of a smiling Rexa was posted to social media in the aftermath of this incident, the kind of behavior, as we’ll see throughout this video, is definitely not okay.

#9: Loaves of Bread

Smash Mouth
Sometimes, it’s the poor thinking and actions of one individual that sets up a stage incident. Other times, it’s a perfect storm of decisions that just go from bad to worse. Giving out free bread to an increasingly drunk group of concertgoers at a food and music fest probably wasn’t the best idea. At least, not according to Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell, who was pelted by carbohydrates during a gig in 2015. The “Taste of Fort Collins” event in Colorado got the singer STEAMING mad, and his on-stage freakout was captured by cell phone cameras for the entire world to see.

#8: Feminine Hygiene Products

One Direction
The only person, at the end of the day, who truly knows why something is thrown on stage…is the person who throws that item. As a result, we really can’t quite tell you guys why someone decided to throw tampons at the band. There’s footage of both Harry Styles and Zayn Malik looking rather confused at the sight of feminine hygiene products making their way to the stage. People with periods, sanitary products are expensive – we can’t afford to be throwing them at artists who have no use for them!

#7: Erotic Accessory

Lil Nas X
Occasionally, an instance of on-stage distraction can just turn out to be a funny, one-time incident. Such was the case at a Lollapalooza date in Stockholm, Sweden in 2023. Lil Nas X was performing when, all of a sudden, an explicit erotic accessory was tossed onto the stage by a fan. Lil Nas X, to his credit, laughed it off and took the incident in stride. He checked out the accessory, picked it up and good naturedly asked who tossed the item on stage. No one was hurt, no real harm done, and Lil Nas X turned it into a joke.

#6: Lollipop

David Bowie
Now, for a moment of contrast. It was NOT okay when musical icon David Bowie was hit in the eye with a lollipop while performing in Oslo, Norway, back in 2004. Bowie didn’t take it in stride, either. He verbally called out audience members from the stage, and appeared to be in a rather great deal of legitimate pain. One of Bowie’s eyes had already been injured in a fistfight back in ‘62, and the errantly-tossed pop hit the singer in that same, damaged eye. The Thin White Duke had some choice words in Oslo on this night, but continued to finish the concert, and even joked about the incident while tossing guitar picks into the audience after the set was finished.

#5: Wee Bottles

Cher Lloyd
The act of throwing a water bottle filled with human urine is sadly not without precedent in the United Kingdom. The Reading Festival, for example, holds something of a tradition with audience attendees tossing these sorts of bottles at performers. Cher Lloyd was unfortunately added to this list of performers in 2012, albeit while performing at a different music festival. The incident took place at the V Festival date in Chelmsford, Essex, and the crowd was unrelenting. Lloyd was pelted by full bottles of the stuff, and was visibly and understandably upset by the scene.

#4: Sausages

Lady Gaga
We go up a level on the horrible scale with our next example of poor fan behavior. Audiences at a 2012 Lady Gaga gig in Barcelona, Spain threw sausages at the singer, apparently in response to Gaga’s perceived weight gain. To make things worse, this Barcelona gig was also marred by Gaga’s ill-health, which resulted in the singer becoming visibly sick multiple times throughout the gig. The “Paparazzi” singer shook off this reprehensible assault by picking them up, and commenting in stride via Twitter. Lady Gaga may have kept her cool with regards to this deli attack, but we just don’t understand how so-called fans of an artist can be so callous, cruel and uncouth.

#3: A Live Bat

Ozzy Osbourne
It’s one of the most infamous incidents in rock ‘n roll history. That time heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne bit the head of a live bat, while on stage in Des Moines, Iowa. It took place back in 1982, when Osbourne was at the height of his career excesses, during a planned participation sequence. The sequence called for Osbourne to throw bits of meat into the audience, to which the crowd would often respond with their own projectiles. This show on the twentieth of January saw a fan toss up a live bat. Ozzy, thinking the bat was a toy, bit into its head…only it wasn’t fake. Ozzy had bitten a real bat, and required multiple rabies shots after this was all said and done.

#2: A Chicken

Alice Cooper
Our next example of hard rock excess is somewhat similar to the Ozzy incident, although Alice Cooper didn’t devour this chicken on stage. The shock rock legend did have one of the animals tossed onto his stage back at the 1969 Toronto Rock ‘n Roll Revival Festival. Alice, believing the chicken would just fly away, tossed it back into the crowd. Chickens don’t fly, however, and the crowd, quite frankly, tore it to pieces. Feathers flew, bits of bird went everywhere, and Alice Cooper’s legacy into rock ‘n roll cultural pantheon was complete.

#1: Mom’s Ashes

Pink
We’ve seen a lot of strange things hit stages so far in this list, but this one takes the cake. Pink was performing at Hyde Park in London, when she was hit by a plastic bag containing some strange powder. The powder, as it turns out, was the human ashes of the mother of an audience member. Pink engaged in a brief conversation with the audience member in question, but appeared to be visibly shaken and unsure of the situation. The singer eventually placed the bag in a safe place on the stage, but here’s a word of advice to everyone out there who’s even thinking of trying this stunt: DON’T.