The Most Disastrous Live Performances In History
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Vote up the worst live performances that are legendary in their awfulness.
For most enthusiastic patrons, attending a live show is one of the highlights of their year. Attendees often pay high prices for tickets and wait in anticipation for months as the culminating event draws near - whether it's a concert by one of their favorite bands, a magical illusionist who wows the crowds, or a TV series filmed in front of a live audience.
These performances may live up to the hyped expectations of the audience's dreams. However, every now and then, an event that could create lifelong memories ends in utter disaster. From unexpected festival riots to wild animals turning on their owners, this list features some of the most disastrous live performances in history.
Vote up those that are legendary in their awfulness.
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- Trainwreck: Woodstock '99
- Netflix
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the legendary 1969 rock festival that headlined performers like Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Joan Baez, and Jimi Hendrix, musicians and fans united for three days in Rome, NY, ready to recreate the iconic music scene with a distinctly '90s flair. However, instead of being a venue of peace and love, Woodstock 1999 literally went up in flames.
More than 100 miles from the original venue, Woodstock 1999 took place at a decommissioned military base that was unkempt and unsuitable for a three-day festival. Despite its less than appealing atmosphere, nearly 400,000 concert-goers braved the unusual 102 F heat for a chance to witness the recreation of one of rock history's most famous events.
In addition to patrons being grossly overcharged for food and beverages and being herded like animals throughout the event space, the concert planners neglected to properly plan for the amount of waste the event would inevitably cause.
One attendee remembered waking up on Saturday morning to a sea of human fecal matter from the flooded portable bathrooms throughout the grounds. Soon, the fountain water designated for free drinking, showering, and teeth-brushing was contaminated with human waste, causing rashes and infections upon skin contact.
Far from the folk and psychedelic rock entertainment of the past, Woodstock 1999’s lineup included hard rock and metal bands like Korn, Metallica, Limp Bizkit, and Rage Against the Machine. As the bands fueled the energy of the already hyped and disgruntled crowd, Limp Bizkit's front man Fred Durst encouraged listeners to “break everything.” Shortly after, chaos ensued.
Audience members stormed a control tower and drove a van onstage in the middle of a performance. Still, that didn't stop concert promoter Michael Lang from distributing candles to the entire audience on the last night to pay tribute to the then-recent victims of the Columbine High School shooting.
Instead of using the candles as a somber expression of united grief, the crowd used them to set fire to everything in sight. As the Red Hot Chili Peppers finished their set with Jimi Hendrix's “Fire,” crowds vandalized commercial tents, stole from the venue's cash registers, and tried to force their way into the VIP areas of the event.
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- 2827 VOTES
A Las Vegas Siegfried & Roy Show Went Terribly Awry When A Tiger Attacked Roy
Earning a $57 million dollar contract and selling out a theater that sat 1,500 guests twice a day for more than a decade, illusionists Siegfried and Roy knew their performing wild animals pretty well. By 2003, the duo had worked with their exotic feline co-hosts for 44 years. However, their long-term relationship with 7-year-old white tiger Mantacore (sometimes spelled Montecore) took a turn for the worse in front of a sold-out Las Vegas crowd on October 3 at the Mirage Resort and Casino.
As Roy was delivering the same monologue with the tiger that they had repeated time and again, Mantacore shocked and terrified the audience by taking a sudden bite at the illusionist's neck. The attack severed an artery that supplied blood to the brain and shattered one of Roy's vertebrae. While the feline dragged the helpless magician across the stage, so much blood was on the floor that onlookers believed they were witnessing Roy's demise.
Mirage patrons left their drinks at their tables as crowds gathered outside to pray for Roy, who began flatlining at a local hospital. Although he did survive the ordeal, he was partially paralyzed. He and Siegfried continued to live with Mantacore as a pet until the animal's passing in March 2014. Roy insisted that he had suffered a stroke on stage and the tiger was trying to save him.
Roy passed in May 2020 from complications of COVID-19; Siegfried passed in January 2021 of cancer.
- 31,006 VOTES
After a group of investors, including TV producer Tom Werner, purchased the San Diego Padres baseball team from Joan Kroc (widow of Ray Kroc of McDonald's fame), executives thought it would be good for publicity to cross-promote the game and the new season of Rosanne. Instead, the incident was so bad that it was deemed insulting.
Roseanne Barr headed onto the diamond on July 25, 1990, to perform a screeching rendition of the national anthem. While many people were skeptical about her ability to sing, players and attendees claimed they assumed she had an unknown talent that was about to be displayed.
Instead, she held her fingers to her ears as she screamed the words to the "The Star-Spangled Banner” before grabbing her crotch, spitting, and exiting the field. As Padres fans booed and players stood in disbelief, even then-President George H.W. Bush commented that the display had been “disgraceful.”
Werner never commented or apologized for the performance.
- Photo:
- Nicoledawn85
- Wikimedia Commons
- CC-BY-SA 4.0
4706 VOTESFans were so unhappy with a 2002 Creed concert in Chicago that they tried to sue the band and requested the judge consider filing a class action lawsuit. During the event, lead singer Scott Stapp was apparently so intoxicated or medicated that he was unable to finish any songs. According to the disgruntled concert-goers, he also:
…left the stage on several occasions during songs for long periods of time, rolled around on the floor of the stage in apparent pain or distress, and appeared to pass out while on stage during the performance.
From the fans' perspective, Stapp's inability to perform coherently was the equivalent of the show being canceled; they sued for the price of their tickets and parking fees at the venue. Although Creed issued an apology, they skirted blame by stating:
We apologize if you don’t feel that the show was up to the very high standards set by our previous shows in Chicago.
While they also noted that the other band members were concerned for Stapp's health, they made no effort to refund their fans for the (lack of) performance.
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On July 21, 1989, Milli Vanilli took the stage to perform their hit new single, “Girl You Know It's True.” However, as the song skipped and looped on the same set of lyrics over the sound system at Connecticut theme park Lake Compounce, the duo and the crowd realized something was amiss.
Milli Vanilli never actually sang the vocals for their songs, in the recording studio or on stage. Band member Rob Pilatus assumed this embarrassing performance was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli and immediately exited the stage. Still, in a time before social media and smartphones, the incident barely made news and went unrecognized by the music industry.
The group won a Grammy in February 1990, but their ability to continually lie to the public in exchange for fame eventually proved too much for the young lip-syncers. When producer Frank Farian denied them their request to sing on their second album, Pilatus and the band's other half, Fab Morvan, exposed themselves to the world.
Just one week later, the Grammys took back Milli Vanilli's award from the previous year, which had named them Best New Artist.
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6615 VOTESFrom 1964 until the Vietnam War's end, actor, singer, and dancer Bob Hope made nine different trips to the warzone to entertain American service members over the holidays. During one trip, he was targeted in a terrorist attack - a bomb went off in a hotel to stay 10 minutes before he and his crew arrived to stay there.
The shows - organized via the USO - were filmed and televised for the nation, and Hope was widely loved for his efforts to bring cheer to an otherwise dismal and hostile environment.
However, by 1969 the popularity of the war had waned, and Hope's documentary-turned-variety show grew commonplace among audiences. To take a break from the norm, the comedian made changes by turning the trip into a worldwide tour, complete with a public send-off from US President Richard Nixon.
When Hope arrived to perform for 10,000 soldiers in the First Infantry at Lai Khe, he assured the group that he had spoken with Nixon, and that he intended to end the war. Instead of being greeted with a standing ovation, Hope was met with boos.
Once the troops realized their opportunity to vocalize their disapproval, the booing continued. From there, the anger and retaliation escalated quickly. As journalist Richard Boyle (who was present) remembered:
After about 15 minutes of Hope’s show, he was being drowned out by the boos. When the TV cameras panned the crowd, the GIs were standing up and giving the finger and making power salutes…
Then the troops started throwing things and tried to rush the stage. They brought out about 54 MPs to guard the stage, and it was getting very menacing… pretty close to a riot. Hope, who was visibly shaken, had to stop the show and leave.
Later, it came to light that many soldiers in attendance had just returned from a combat mission earlier that morning, having lost comrades in the fighting.
- 7592 VOTES
Many people were concerned that the polished American rock ‘n’ roll scene wasn't quite ready for the British duo Oasis when they made their way across the ocean for their first US tour - and they might've been right.
Once brothers and bandmates Liam and Noel Gallagher landed in Los Angeles, they were set to perform at the famous Whisky a Go Go, where bands like Led Zeppelin, The Doors, and The Who all made appearances.
However, the Gallaghers had no issue mixing business with pleasure, scoring what they thought was cocaine to fuel their rockin' persona. Instead, they were doing heaps of crystal meth.
By the time Oasis was ready to hit the stage, the Gallaghers had been up for days. The set was doomed from the start - as amps busted, Noel played songs that were entirely different from what the rest of the band was playing, and Liam chose to forgo his singing parts for most of the evening.
The fiasco ended with a bang as Liam launched a tambourine straight to Noel's head after yelling at him to “go f*ck himself.” As Liam walked off the stage and into the Los Angeles streets, Noel made a break for San Francisco, abandoning the band.
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- Saturday Night Live
- NBC
As the younger sister of pop star Jessica Simpson, Ashlee Simpson worked hard to make a name for herself and establish her own career. Unfortunately, her claim to fame landed not in a single stellar moment of musical genius but in an awkward, nationally televised lip-syncing session during a 2004 episode of Saturday Night Live.
Although her first performance of “Pieces of Me” went off without a hitch, the audience grew immediately suspicious when she returned for the second song. The band launched into “Autobiography,” and Simpson broke into the opening dance moves for the number. In an awkward twist, the lyrics supposedly coming from the singer's mouth were the same words heard in the previous song.
Quickly noticing the monumental mistake, the band hurriedly switched back to the notes from “Pieces of Me,” but the damage was done. Simpson broke into a strange hoedown-type dance for nearly 30 seconds before she finally left the stage. Meanwhile, the band members finished the song.
Instead of owning up to her mistake, Simpson infamously betrayed her dedicated band by blaming them for the issue at the end of the show.
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Montreal heavy metal fans were irate after the headliners at the concert they attended cut the show short in 1992 - twice.
First, Metallica lead singer James Hetfield had to exit the stage early after a prop exploded, leaving him with second-degree burns on his hands, face, and arms. As Guns N' Roses followed, lead singer Axl Rose began having trouble with his voice and called the show off after less than an hour of rocking entertainment.
Fans were livid, despite the band members' obvious ailments. A riot broke out among the crowd of 53,000, and patrons burned concert T-shirts, which caused small fires throughout Olympic Stadium. Some angry concertgoers even broke the windows of the venue with an uprooted street light.
Ultimately, the mob could only be subdued by 300 club-toting law enforcement officers and tear gas.
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10394 VOTESWhen the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences handed over the planning of the 1989 Oscars to Grease producer Allan Carr, everyone assumed it would be a memorable night. Whether attending live or watching from home, what audiences weren't expecting was a bizarre display of what has been subsequently dubbed “the worst Oscars ever.”
Carr made numerous changes to the ceremony, including adding extended red-carpet TV coverage, a fashion show, and the now-famous line “and the Oscar goes to…” While these changes became Academy Award night routine, his decision to forgo a traditional host and instead let famous “couples, companions, costars, and compadres” present the awards set the tone for a very odd evening.
The first “famous” presenter proved not to be famous. Instead, a then-unknown performer named Eileen Bowman entered the auditorium dressed as Disney's Snow White to perform and present alongside Rob Lowe, whom Carr chose as her blind date for the night. Lowe, who starred in St. Elmo's Fire, had recently come under fire in his own right for a leaked sex tape with a teenage girl.
Dancers dressed as literal stars facelessly danced on stage while Bowman unsuccessfully worked to woo the less-than-enthusiastic A-list crowd. Samba partners danced to Merv Griffin singing “I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts." To cap the entrance, Bowman and Lowe sang “Rolling, rolling, keep the cameras rolling” to the tune of “Proud Mary,” and staged furniture came to life to dance along to the tunes.
Following the show, Disney sued over the use of Snow White, and a number of prominent actors penned letters of complaint to the Academy. Rather than serving as a launching pad for Bowman's career, she faded into obscurity. Carr never worked as a producer in Hollywood again.
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- Koen Suyk; Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Rijksfotoarchief: Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Fotopersbureau
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
By the time the Sex Pistols made it across the pond for their first American tour in 1978, the band was reaching its breaking point. Johnny Rotten wasn't speaking to other band members, and bassist Sid Vicious was battling a heroin addiction.
Although the group was well-known and liked in the US and could have easily played to large crowds in larger cities, the band's manager decided to visit southern states, choosing “redneck bars” in hopes of stirring up press and creating stories that would amplify the Sex Pistols' persona.
After playing at venues in cities like San Antonio and Baton Rouge, where they weren't well received, the band ended their first and only US tour at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom.
Weary from the travel and the group's estranged relations, the set didn't go well. Guitarist Steve Jones was battling a cold, the guitar Vicious used wasn't even plugged in for some of the performances, and guitar strings continually broke - leaving Rotten feeling abandoned on stage.
As the group finished the lineup with a cover song titled “No Fun,” Rotten lost his temper in front of the entire audience, defeatedly declaring:
There's no fun in being alone… This is no fun. It is no fun at all… Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
Once he finished his improvised monologue, the rocker dropped his microphone on the stage and walked off. The band didn't play together again publicly until 1996.
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- Dade County Public Safety Department
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
12343 VOTESBy 1969, Jim Morrison had earned himself a reputation for making outrageous remarks on stage during performances with The Doors. Expecting an unforgettable show, 12,000 fans packed into Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, FL - which could only legally hold 7,000 - and prepared themselves to be entertained.
However, even those who knew they were in for a wild night got more than they bargained for when Morrison insulted the crowd by calling them “f*cking idiots” before allegedly exposing himself on stage.
The poet and singer's flight had been delayed earlier that day, and he arrived at the venue heavily intoxicated. The venue wasn't equipped with air-conditioning, undoubtedly making the oversold concert feel more like a sauna.
When a fan poured a bottle of champagne over the Lizard King, he pulled his shirt off before encouraging the crowd to also get naked. While Morrison undressed, he slurred through the microphone:
Let’s see a little skin, let’s get naked… You didn’t come here for music did you? You came for something more, didn’t you? You didn’t come to rock ‘n’ roll, you came for something else didn’t you? You came for something else - what is it?
Rumors state that he furthered the rant by accusing the audience of wanting to see his genitals. According to thousands of fans witnessing the spectacle, Morrison then exposed himself before the stage collapsed and the police intervened.
Although Morrison and his bandmates swore that he never actually whipped out part of his anatomy on stage, he was arrested for indecent exposure, being drunk and abusive, and simulating oral sex on guitarist Robby Krieger during the performance.
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When Green Day's set was unexpectedly cut 20 minutes short at the 2012 iHeart Radio Festival, Billie Joe Armstrong made sure the band's remaining minute was a smashing ending to the show.
In typical rocking style, Green Day started their performance with “American Idiot,” and the crowd responded enthusiastically. However, unknown to the band, their stage time was cut to allow Usher more time with the crowd.
As the one-minute warning unexpectedly flashed on the alerting sign, Armstrong lost control, shouting:
One minute f*cking left!… You’re going to give me one f*cking minute. You gotta be f*cking kidding me… I’m not f*cking Justin Bieber you motherf*ckers. You gotta be f*cking joking. I got one minute… Oh now I got nothing left, now I got nothing left. Let me show you what one f*cking minute f*cking means!
Then, Armstrong slammed his guitar into the stage to ensure that he had gotten his point across. Not wanting his bandmate to feel alone in protesting, bass player Mike Dirnt followed suit by crashing his own instrument on the ground in front of an equally irate audience.
Although fans appreciated the gesture as a typical part of the punk band's persona and cheered them on, band members grew concerned that Armstrong was in need of help. The incident became the final straw that led to the singer's entrance into an Oakland rehab center to cure him of a prescription drug habit.
- Photo:
- Rich Esteban
- Wikimedia Commons
- CC-BY-SA 4.0
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's halftime performance at the 2004 Super Bowl took a wildly unexpected turn during the last few seconds of “Rock Your Body.” Just as Timberlake was finishing the line “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” the pop star grabbed for Jackson's top, exposing one breast to the shock of the entire nation.
Later accounts claim that while both singers planned for the event, neither expected the top to rip from Jackson's chest completely. Instead, the plan was to expose a red bustier. This portion of the act had not been previously rehearsed, a decision that both regretted.
Although Timberlake apologized to then-CBS CEO Les Moonves, Jackson refused to. Subsequently, Moonves blacklisted her from attending the Grammys. The bad press fell around the same time that Jackson's album Damita Jo came out, and radio stations refused to play it.
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