The stage isn’t always a friend, but here are some artists who made the best of technical difficulties and still delivered killer shows.
No matter how long you’ve done it, performing live is a gamble. There’s no telling when a speaker gives out, or the mic decides to show itself out, or Mother Nature decides to make a special appearance. Despite this, however, there are some iconic moments where artists powered through and continued performing, proving that they were not only consummate professionals but also just really fucking cool.
So, here are some memorable times when artists powered through live shows despite technical difficulties and delivered memorable performances – according to Reddit.
That time Beyonce kept singing despite having her hair caught in a fan
While performing in Montreal during the ‘Mrs. Carter Show World Tour’ in 2013, Beyonce wanted to get close to her fans. As she stepped down the stairs, however, her hair got tangled up in one of the fans near the stage. Like the champ she is, she continued singing even as security and the stage crew worked on freeing her.
Another user pointed out a separate incident involving Beyonce, where she realised while singing that she was bleeding from her ear after getting her earring pulled out, but still continued singing.
Patti LaBelle ad-libs through ‘This Christmas’
At the 1996 National Tree Lighting, Patti LaBelle was met with a raving introduction and the perfect orchestration… but nothing else. As LaBelle took the stage to sing, she realised that she had no background singers and no cue cards to refer to.
So, like a legend, she ad-libbed through the song, adding funny nuances about the situation, changing the lyrics to: “Where my background singers, Wooooo Oooh baby baby I- And it’s the wrong words on the cue cards, I don’t know the song, This Christmas… I’m gonna ad-lib all I can, Because I don’t have the right words and I have no background singers, Oh I don’t, Woooooo…”
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Did she miss a single note? No, she did not.
Leslie Uggams’ rendition of ‘June Is Busting All Over’
This one comes back every couple of years as soon as June rolls around, but it still begs a mention. While Uggams’ rendition of ‘June Is Busting All Over’ by Rogers and Hammersteins started off well, she seemed to fumble through words shortly after – all the while keeping up with the camera and the movement like she had practiced. It’s alright, no biggie.
Except, as Uggams explained in a public appearance years later, the fumble had happened because her cue cards – and the person holding them – had slipped and fallen on wet soil as she had been performing.
“It poured like crazy the night before and then it poured that morning,” she said of the show.
“And so, the grass was wet as can be. So [we], start the music and–” she hums the tune to the song and continues “–and all of a sudden the cue card slips and falls into the grass and he’s gone!”
Lady Gaga gets hit with a metal pole on the head
During a performance of ‘Judas’ in Auckland, New Zealand, a backup dancer accidentally hit Lady Gaga on the head with a metal pole while dismantling it. While she missed a couple of words, Gaga went on to finish the song and perform flawlessly. She only revealed to the audience later on – after a trip backstage – that she had suffered a concussion because of the hit, but refused to stop the show.
“I want to apologise. I did hit my head and I think I may have a concussion but don’t you worry I will finish this show.” she told fans at the time.
Taylor Swift performing a capella versions of ‘Our Song’ and ‘Wildest Dreams’ while stuck mid-air
On the second night of the Philadelphia show of her ‘Reputation’ tour, Taylor Swift was supposed to be carried across the venue in a mechanically operated, bedazzled basket as she performed ‘Delicate’. Due to technical faults, however, the basket kept bobbing up and down. Swift paid the snag no mind, and proceeded to perform a capella versions of her songs ‘Our Song’ and ‘Wildest Dreams’ even as she was hovering mid-air.
Paramore’s impromptu performance of ‘The Only Exception’ at the Reading Festival
At the 2014 Reading Festival, Paramore had just finished performing ‘Decode’ when the power went out. Kind of serendipitous in retrospect – when the band realised what had happened, they decided to perform an acoustic version of their next song, ‘The Only Exception’ – which is how it should be listened to, honestly.
Enrique Iglesias slices hand on drone; still finishes show
At a 2015 concert in Tijuana, Mexico, Iglesias’s show was in full swing when, while singing, he reached for a drone flying overhead and accidentally sliced open his palm. It wasn’t a small cut – Iglesias’ hand was bleeding profusely. Despite the injury, however, Iglesias patched up his hand and continued to perform. He also used his blood to draw on his shirt, but to each their own, we guess.
