20 Times Musicians Were Not Afraid To Stop The Music When They Saw Something Wasn’t Right In The Crowd

The vocalist Zack de la Rocha for Rage Against The Machine had to stop at a 1997 RATM concert in Mesa, Arizona when he was shocked by one of his fans’ behavior. He stood speechless for a while and then gave a lesson about sexual harassment.

 

He said that the band almost cancelled all their concerts because “Some people think that because they're at a show, because there are women dancing and trying to have a good time, they have the right to tear their tops off." He completely disagreed with that and continued to say that “Women are forced to live in fear in their schools, and in their communities, and shouldn't have to come to a Rage Against the Machine show and be afraid of that s**t right there.” He also warned people that he would stop if it happened again.

The band was performing I Write Sins Not Tragedies In 2014 at the House of Blues in Boston. He seemed to be having a lot of fun and out of nowhere he asks the musicians to hold on. The music stopped and the vocalist Brendon asked the crowd to make some room as he noticed that a girl was not feeling well. She actually was having a seizure and Brandon was making sure that the medics could get to her by asking people to “part like the Red Sea” and stay calm until “that beautiful girl is out of there.”

During a 1993 concert Kurt Cobain was performing the song Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam and was playing the guitar when he suddenly stopped and jumped up with an angry face, yelling at what seemed like a very specific person. Turns out, he saw a man sexually assaulting a woman and he was not going to let it happen. When the musician came back to the microphone he said, "Copping a feel, eh, buddy?" and then the whole band humiliated the man by pointing at him and laughing: "Look at him, look at him, ha ha ha!" probably with the intention to make the man never want to do it again.

In 2001 Linkin Park had a concert at the Docklands Arena in London. They were performing the song Papercut and had to stop as they saw a person down on the floor. Chester Bennington yelled to pick up the fallen fan and Mike Shinoda added, "We gotta look out for safety first, for real. Nobody gets hurt. That's number one."

The members waited until they were sure all the people that were passed out were taken care of and Chester said that their fans are far more important than the concert and asked the fans to take care of each other.

The young artist Billie Eilish was singing the song Ocean Eyes at her show in Stockholm in 2018 and saw a commotion in the crowd. Someone said that there was a person who passed out. Billie went to grab her water bottle to try and help the fan.

You can truly understand how the young woman really cares about her supporters because the incident really startled her and she started asking other people if they were feeling well. She said "I care about you guys so much. I need you to be okay" and proceeded offering water as others complained they were feeling like they could pass out.

In 2011 during a concert at London's Hammersmith Apollo Adele was performing her hit song Rolling In The Deep when suddenly, she shouted “Stop.” The music immediately stopped and Adele asked her staff to take care of a fan that had fainted and joked around to not cause a big scene, saying “Can someone look like they care, please?!" She pointed in the direction where it happened to guide the people who were coming to help and waited until she was sure that the fan was taken care of.

The singer Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters was performing at the iTunes Festival in London in 2011 and in the middle of the song he wanted it to stop. Then he started cussing at a fan who was apparently starting a fight. Dave Grohl wasn’t having any of it and wanted the person out as his concerts are for singing and dancing and not having fights. He didn’t want anyone to spoil the fun who came there for it.

In the middle of the song Homecoming that Green Day was performing, the singer Billie Joe Armstrong caught that something was going on in the crowd and quickly interrupted the song to discipline the people that were being too aggressive. He said, “That's not f*****g appropriate now. These kids are just trying to have a good time. You don't have to muscle them around, all right?”

Another musician that was caught on video caring for his fans was A$AP Rocky. The rapper was performing at the 2019 Rolling Loud music festival and noticed people on the floor. He asked for the music to stop and for the fans to back up and make room to let the girl lying on the floor to be picked up. The person who took the video wrote, “just proof the performer has the power control over whether to stop the show on not in unsafe situations.”

The band was in the middle of the song Thnks fr th Mmrs in Florida in 2014 when they asked for a break because a fan needed some help. The person who filmed the video said that a girl was having a seizure so it’s fortunate that the singer managed to notice that and stopped everything to provide the girl with the help she needed.

 

They were assuring the crowd that they would proceed as soon as the girl was taken care of. One of the members, Patrick Stump, turned this incident to an inspirational moment by saying, “The coolest and most important thing is that we're all together on this. When somebody goes down, we help them up” and then continued the concert as promised.

In 2019 Harry Styles had a concert in LA that he had to stop as he had “a very serious question.” Then he proceeded to ask if a fan in the middle of the crowd was okay. Apparently, the woman wasn’t feeling well and when Harry asked if she was down, the crowd answered that she was.

Harry gave a sign to his staff to take care of the situation and said to the crowd that help is on the way and asked the people to point at the person who needed help in order to do so as efficiently as possible. He also asked the fans to take “a small and gentle step back” to make room but not to cause any more trouble.

During a show in Connecticut, Lady Gaga noticed that one of her fans in the crowd had been hurt. She halted the concert for a moment to find out if the fan was feeling well. She asked the woman if she needed a paramedic as she was bleeding because she'd been hit in the face. Lady Gaga promised that she would make sure the woman was taken care of and asked several times if she was okay.

During Niall Horan’s concert in Argentina in 2018, nothing actually happened, but the singer saw that if he did’t say anything, then something could have. Everyone wanted to be as close to the stage as possible to better see their idol, but it was not safe being squished together. So Niall was determined that before they continued with the concert, people would have to step back a little because there was enough space for everyone to not feel like sardines in a can. He said “Your security is my responsibility” and it’s an admirable view.

The rapper Logic was holding a concert in Houston in 2017 and stopped everything and started commanding orders to the crowd to make room for a woman that had fainted. He wasn’t annoyed and seemed to be actually concerned about her and others. He said that these kinds of things happen at every concert and said, “You guys make sure that you're drinking water, stay hydrated. People come here, they wait outside for hours, all day. I get it, I feel you, but like...It ain't worth waking up in the hospital tomorrow. If you're thirsty, go get something to drink, do you hear what I'm saying?"

 

Logic then noticed another unconscious person and did the same thing, and after that, asked others if they were feeling alright and were having fun. The person who uploaded a video left a note at the end of it saying that the staff gave them all water and it truly shows how the artist appreciates his fans.

During a concert in 2019 at GLEN HELEN AMPHITHEATER in California, Corey Taylor from Slipknot noticed that people were starting to get squished at the front as the fans wanted to be closer to the artists, but the band member knew better and asked people to back up as it could have ended up in a tragedy. He said that he wouldn’t continue with the concert until the fans listened to him.

 

Someone in the comments under the video showing the scene said that they were at the concert and they were at the front feeling squished: “I had to be lifted over the railing because I was about to pass out when the crowd surged forward. Corey saved me that night. Amazing human being.”

The band Shinedown were singing the song Call Me at a show in 2015 when one of the members, Brent Smith, held his hand up. Before he could ask for the music to be stopped, someone had already turned it off. Then he asked for the light to be turned on so that he could see what was happening below.

 

He asked for medical assistance and space around a man in the audience who passed out. The fan was taken out by medics and when he was safe, Brent added, “Let's just keep this gentleman in our prayers” and calmed down the crowd that he saw that the man was responsive and believed he would get better.

The English singer YUNGBLUD wanted to make sure his fans were having a good time and were safe so while performing in a concert in Dallas, Texas. After a song finished, he leaned forward and asked one of them if they were alright and then addressed his audience, asking them not to be so rough to the girls in the front as they were constantly being pushed.

 

He said, “We’re a family and we all look after each other” and then asked one of the girls if she was alright. When he got confirmation that all was good, the singer proceeded with the performance.

A lot of artists in this list noticed themselves that something wasn’t right in the crowd and stopped performing. But there are a lot of people working at a concert that are there to ensure both the performer’s and the fans’ safety. So Playboi Carti’s concert in Chicago this year was cut off as the staff noticed so many people were passing out.

The security informed the rapper what was going on and he reacted immediately asking people to take three steps back and have some more space in between them. He also said, “I care about you guys, safety first” and didn’t continue until the staff made sure people listened to him.

In 2011 Paramore went on a tour and during a concert in Montreal, Canada, Hayley Williams is seen in the video with a confused face before she turns to her band members and asks them to pause. She interrupted their performance because someone was causing a ruckus and she just wanted to know they were not hurt and that they would stop acting all tough because it’s “not really that cool.” Before resuming the performance, she joked that they wouldn’t want her coming down.

One Ok Rock member Taka suspected that someone in the crowd might be feeling unwell so he interrupted the concert to make sure for himself and asked, “You alright? You’re fine? Are you sure? Okay. I trust you” and then carried on with the performance.