10 Ridiculous Times Rockers Fought With Fans

We all have bad days – you know, those times when we just won’t let things slide. Musicians are no exception. They can lose their temper too, well, that and most of them can be pretty hot-headed. Also, some fans are so rude and like to push their idols to the edge. So perhaps it comes as no surprise that sometimes, they end up butting heads with each other.

Let’s take a look at these instances when rockstars came to blows with fans.

1. Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme

This happened on June 13, 2008 at the Norwegian Wood festival in Oslo. Homme wasn’t feeling well during their set, and one fan threw something at him. Homme singled him out and called him names. After Homme’s slur-laden rant, security guards took the fan to the photo pit where Homme threw a bottle at him.

2. NOFX’s Fat Mike

During a concert in Sydney, Australia on November 4, 2014, an overeager fan named Alex Medak jumped on stage and tried to put his arm around Fat Mike. Unfortunately for him, Mike had been suffering from neck pain and he told the audience so early on.

“I hurt my neck somehow, really bad, so I can’t really move around very well,” Mike said. “So if you throw something at me again, I’m gonna really be pissed.”

A drunk Medak somehow decided to have a moment with his idol and creeped up on him, but Mike responded by pushing Medaks’ arm away and punching his face and landing a swift kick on him. Medak later took to Twitter to apologize and Mike also did the same.

3. Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose

Honestly, we could create a separate list for Axl Rose because he used to be notorious in picking fights with both fans and peers in the industry. On July 2, 1991, the band played at the Riverport Amphitheater in St. Louis. They were in the middle of a song when Rose suddenly pointed a finger at one concertgoer and told security, “Wait, take that! Take that! Now! Get that guy and take that!”

Rose apparently saw a guy illegally recording them with his camera. As their security decided to ignore it, Rose took matters into his own hands and dived into the crowd. He was swinging punches at fans, and when he got back to the stage, he famously said: “Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, we’re going home!” He then dropped the mic.

After the band left, the crowd erupted into a riot, and it was utter chaos. Charges were filed against Rose.

4. AC/DC’s Angus Young

At an AC/DC show in Phoenix, Arizona, the band was powering through “Bad Boy Boogie” when a fan threw a drink at guitarist Angus Young. Young calmly headed towards the fan, pointed at him, and beckoned him over. The fan was stupid enough to throw another bottle at Young. He took off his guitar and went closer to the fan. Young then grabbed the guy’s nose and served him with a bit of well-deserved verbal abuse.

After he was hauled out by security, Young continued to play as though nothing happened.

5. The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards

At a concert on December 18, 1981 in Hampton, Virginia, The Rolling Stones were performing their classic hit “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” when a fan ran onstage and tried to grab frontman Mick Jagger. Richards responded by swinging his black Fender Telecaster and hitting the guy on the shoulder. After that, Keef resumed playing like it was nothing.

“The damn thing stayed in tune,” Richards said with a laugh, “and this is the greatest [advertisement] for Fender that I can give you.”

6. Shitdisco lead singer Joel Stone

Shitdisco played at the Hackney Empire on July 15, 2006. They were on their last song when the members repeatedly asked the soundman for the guitar to be turned up in the drummer’s monitor. Whatever the reason, the soundman got up on stage to headbutt the singer Joel Stone.

7. KISS

KISS is no stranger to fans pointing lasers at them, and they have repeatedly called them out. In this particular clip, Paul Stanley stopped the show to take to task a guy who brought a laser light.

8. Stone Roses’ Ian Brown

Stone Roses singer Ian Brown got into a fight during a concert at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. He tackled a fan who jumped on stage before beating a bouncer who intervened. That wasn’t all. Brown also threw a mic at a sound engineer.

9. Nickelback

We’re not huge fans of Nickelback, but we also don’t approve of this behavior.

They were playing at a festival in Portugal when the crowd realized they didn’t want to hear the band’s trash music. What did they do? They pelted rocks at Nickelback. Frontman Chad Kroeger asked them, “Do you want to see some rock ‘n’ roll or do you want to go home?” One attendee responded by hitting Kroeger with a rock in the back of his head. Before walking off the stage, Kroeger and his bandmate gave the crowd the finger.

10. Oasis

Oasis were performing at the V Festival at Toronto Island Park in 2008 when someone rushed to the stage and pushed Noel Gallagher to the ground. He was later apprehended by security and charges were filed. Noel was brought to the hospital because he fell on his monitor speakers, and he was going to be checked for suspected fractured rib and ligament damage.