4 Times Famous Musicians Almost Died on Stage (And Thankfully Survived)

From pyrotechnic accidents to going a little too hard on the substances, plenty of shocking incidents have almost taken out some of the world’s most iconic stars while they were rockin’ out on stage. Let’s look at just four times a few famous musicians almost died on stage.

1. Bill Berry

Bill Berry is best known as the former drummer of R.E.M., mainly because he was so good at what he did. He had a pretty long and successful career with the alternative rock outfit. Sadly, that career was cut short in 1995.

While performing at a concert with R.E.M. in Switzerland, Berry suddenly collapsed on stage. After getting rushed to the hospital, he was diagnosed with a ruptured brain aneurysm. Thankfully, Berry survived and recovered. Just a few years later, though, Berry decided to leave R.E.M. in favor of a “life change”. We wouldn’t be surprised if his near-death experience influenced his decision to leave.

2. Chris Rea

This famous English blues-rock singer famously collapsed on-stage back in 2017, over 30 dates into his tour. Some outlets falsely reported that Rea had a stroke at the time. Rather, the collapse during his performance was the result of a stroke he had suffered a year earlier. 

Clearly, Rea needed to take it down a notch and properly recover before taking on a massive tour. Fortunately, he was hospitalized and recovered, and he quickly returned to his music career.

3. James Hetfield

This is one of the most famous examples of musicians who almost died on stage. Metallica’s James Hetfield was performing at a concert in Canada in 1992 when things took a terrible turn. 

During the set, Herfield walked into one of the stage pyrotechnics machines. He was blasted with fire and suffered from second-degree as well as third-degree burns. His bandmates were terrified, understandably. After a quick hospitalization, though, Hetfield recovered. It’s a miracle he survived, honestly.

4. Keith Moon

The Who’s Keith Moon had a rough go of it before his death at only 32 years old. And his life was almost cut even shorter in the early 1970s. Shortly before a set in San Francisco, Moon took what he thought were tranquilizers to help him with his nerves. The drug in question was actually PCP. Moon passed out multiple times during the performance, and the band opted to send him to the hospital. He had to get his stomach pumped and survived. 

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for P+ and MTV

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