There are some musical performers that are so dedicated to their performances they will suffer through almost anything to deliver the show they want. When writing about the story of “Through the Wire” by Kanye West I was truly amazed to discover that he recorded the song with his jaw wired shut. This got me to thinking about other musicians who are so dedicated to their music that they preform even when injured.
Keith Emerson, a pianist and composer was best known for his crazy stage performances including playing the piano as it flew around the stage, with pyrotechnics going off. As you may imagine playing a flying piano is very risky business. Emerson confirmed that when once the spinning piano broke his nose, but Keith is a dedicated musician so he just kept on playing as blood got all over the keys. Emerson was injured many times during performances.
Lady Gaga was in the middle of a performance in Barcelona last year when she was feeling a bit under the weather. She vomited on stage in the middle of a song. She and her dancers continued on with the performance as if nothing had happened. Other famous pop stars who have puked during a show and kept performing are Rihanna and Justin Bieber.
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Maybe Lady Gaga should think about being more careful on stage, she was also hit in the head with a pole during a performance last year. She suffered a concussion but once again finished the show after leaving the stage briefly.
Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy is dedicated not only to his music but also to his fans, enough so to jump into a brawl between two security guards. Back in 2007 at a Fall Out Boy concert, some security guards from the venue were grabbing fans who got on stage off but the band felt they were doing so too aggressively. One of the bands private security asked one of the venue’s guards to be gentler with the fans and a fist fight broke out. Pete jumped off the stage throwing punches. Later telling the crowd that he was defending his friends.
Drake is another performer that decided to preform even though he had an injury. A few years back he refused to cancel an appearance even though he had hurt his knee. The plan didn’t work out too well for him though, he ended up collapsing on stage in the middle of a song and had to be carried off.
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Sometimes performers get seriously injured on stage. Some artists who took some serious spills on stage, had to go to the hospital and had to cancel shows are Steven Tyler, Pink and Jimmy Buffet.
About Nadine Segal
I am a writer and editor from New York with a passion for music. I write predominately about music, musical artists and the issues they face.