Top 10 Times Singers Forgot Their Own Lyrics

British rock band Coldplay are well-known for their spectacular live performances, filled with elaborate elements that give concertgoers an unforgettable experience. But it seems sometimes, those dazzling features may come at the expense of remembering their own lyrics. In June 2017, while performing a stop in Vienna for their A Head Full of Dreams Tour, frontman Chris Martin stumbled over the words to “Princess of China,” their collaboration with Rihanna. Realizing his mistake, Martin pleaded with fans not to record and upload the moment to YouTube. Well, it appears YouTuber Christoph J. Heinzel wasn’t listening because here we are discussing the blunder. Perhaps, Heinzel was too captivated by the elaborate onstage features to hear Martin’s plea.

When you’ve put out multiple albums and hundreds of songs, it can be easy to lose track of which word goes where. Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar knows this quite well. During the Top Dawg Entertainment Holiday Concert in December 2016, Lamar joined rapper Jay Rock onstage for a performance of their song “Vice City.” As he began his verse, it quickly became clear that he couldn’t recall the exact words. But watching the clip from RealTalk Music Media’s YouTube channel, you probably wouldn’t notice. Being the consummate pro that he is, Lamar quickly whipped up an entirely new verse on the spot that fit perfectly with the track. They don’t call him Pulitzer Kenny for nothing.

You couldn’t dream up a better illustration of irony if you tried. For her July 2009 show in Dallas, Texas, Demi Lovato’s setlist included the mid-tempo ballad “Don’t Forget.” While performing the track, Lovato did the one thing she was not supposed to do: she forgot. This footage from the YouTube channel ‘sellywelly’ shows the singer blanking out on the song’s lyrics, before pausing, giggling, then admitting to the crowd, “I totally forgot.” Honesty is the best policy, right? As it was her hometown, Lovato didn’t want to ruin the performance for her fans, so naturally, she pointed the mic at the audience and let them finish the song for her.

Singing in a language you’re not fluent in is no easy feat, so we give Justin Bieber some credit for his decent performance in the studio version of “Despacito.” But it seems the moment he left that studio, he dropped all of the song’s lyrics behind. During a May 2017 performance at the 1OAK lounge in New York, Bieber didn’t just fumble the words–he couldn’t recall a single one. Instead, he resorted to a nonsensical verse, ending each line with rhyming words like “dorito” and “burrito.” In the clip provided by filmmaker John Marcucci, you can even hear the crowd cringing at the disastrous attempt. Maybe next time he should do what we all do and read the lyrics off a music app.

Every performer has botched a lyric or two throughout their career, and the Elusive Chanteuse is no exception. Remember Mariah Carey’s notorious “New Year's Rockin' Eve” performance in 2016? Well, she also had a lyrical slip-up two years earlier on the “Today” show. Carey was there to promote her upcoming album “Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse” and serenaded her fans with a performance of the classic hit “Always Be My Baby.” However, halfway through, Carey stumbled over the words and laughed it off with a cheeky ad-lib. Those may not have been the right lyrics, but if Mariah Carey doesn’t care, then why should we?

Adele may be a world renowned singer and songwriter, but even she isn’t immune to lyrical flubs. In 2016, while performing her song “Million Years Ago” at a concert in Lisbon, Portugal, the Grammy-winning singer messed up the lyrics, mistakenly singing the verse instead of the chorus. Upon realizing her blunder, Adele reacted in the most relatable way possible–she unleashed a stream of curse words. The fans didn’t seem to mind, finding the whole mishap just as amusing as Adele did. Fortunately, she quickly recovered, hitting the restart button on the song and delivering it flawlessly this time, much to the audience’s delight.

Memory lapses can ambush singers, whether they are performing in jam-packed arenas or cozy office-sized studios. Just ask Ariana Grande. The pop star appeared at the Red Bull Sound Space at KROQ in 2013, where she treated fans to an intimate show. But one of them, Nicole Valdivieso, posted one golden moment to her YouTube channel. While belting out the lyrics to “Right There,” Grande had a literal brain freeze and was unable to proceed with the song. At one point, she had to ask the audience for help with the lyrics, which she co-wrote by the way. Even with their prompts, Grande couldn’t quite pull it together and ended up laughing through the rest of the performance.

Canadian rapper Drake has long been hounded by rumors that he relies on ghostwriters for his music. Those rumors seemed to gain some traction during his performance at the 2012 edition of “Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.” After delivering a solid rendition of “Make Me Proud,” Drake set the stage for his hit “The Motto.” But just as the song kicked off, he blanked out on the lyrics and awkwardly filled the void with a few “yeah yeahs.” You can even hear the audience, including the owner of the YouTube channel Dndr3e, who uploaded the clip, calling him out on the blunder. Come on Drake, how should we take your motto seriously if you can’t even remember it?

In October 2021, Tim McGraw’s live show at the Nugget Event Center in Reno, Nevada served fans not just music, but some unexpected drama too. During a performance of “Just to See You Smile,” footage obtained by TMZ showed McGraw fumbling the lyrics, which prompted some disgruntled fans to heckle him. He initially tried to shrug it off, but then, he abruptly stopped the performance, leapt into the crowd and confronted the hecklers face-to-face. McGraw later explained that his memory lapse was due to exhaustion from filming “1883,” the “Yellowstone” prequel miniseries. It’s unclear what became of the hecklers, but faced with increasing tensions among the crowd, McGraw returned to the stage and soldiered on with the show.

At a P!nk live show, fans fully expect high-energy acrobatics while singing along to their favorite songs. But those who attended her Madison Square Garden concert in April 2018 were treated to a bonus: a hilarious lyrical slip-up. In this clip uploaded to the YouTube channel funfamily6, P!nk begins a rendition of “Who Knew” but draws a blank on the second verse. She quickly owned the mistake and managed to recover just in time for the song’s explosive chorus. Despite this hiccup, P!nk later met fans’ expectations by delivering a show-stopping acrobatic number up in the air. She may have forgotten the lyrics to her song, but so what? She’s still a rockstar!

Have you ever attended a concert where the singer forgot their own lyrics? Tell us how it went in the comments below.