17 Wild Things Artists Did On Stage From Good To Bad

Taylor Swift's stage dive doesn't even cut it.

Let's face it, we can all blame Taylor Swift for what I'm about to do.

@taylorswift / Via giphy.com

Unless you've taken a minute from the internet, I'm sure you have all seen Taylor Swift's quite hilarious and seemingly random stage dive, as she has been making her way through the US leg of her Eras Tour.

Sure, if we see the clip without any context, it does look weird. I mean, she's diving head first into a pit.

@yerimsol / Via tenor.com

But, when you watch the theatrics of the show, it's because she's meant to be "swimming" into her next song, duh.

But, the viral hype around her stunt got me thinking.

@identity / BBC Three / Via giphy.com

What are some of the weirdest or outright wildest things artists have done on stage during a tour? Look no further, because I have compiled a list of all that should be remembered from the good to the downright bad and ugly...

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers have performed shows in just their socks (and ahem, those socks were not on their feet by the way).

Gie Knaeps / Via Getty Images

Let's start our list with a nice one, shall we? A bit of light-hearted fun from the band soon became one of their trademark stunts. In frontman Anthony Kiedis's memoir, he recalls a time when the band was newly formed and performed at the Kit Kat Club in Hollywood; they took to the stage wearing only a sock to cover up their manhood, and the rest was history. Just imagine going to see a new band and getting more than you bargained for...crazy!

2. The Notorious B.I.G. had a go at his DJ and threw a bottle of water at him.

1200squad / Via youtube.com

Notorious B.I.G. was performing at a Summer Jam concert with DJ Big Kap, but clearly, the rapper wasn't gelling with the DJ! In the viral video, Notorious B.I.G. can be seen moaning and swearing at the DJ for apparently messing up, and even ends up throwing his water bottle at him. The whole thing is just a bit unprofessional and weird, and must have been a disappointing watch for the fans!

3. Dave Grohl kicked a fan out of the show for fighting. And it was awesome.

Dean Mo6 / Via youtube.com

This one is wild, but the best kind of wild! 

To me, there's nothing worse than having people fighting near you or ruining a live show with stupid behavior, and the fact that Dave Grohl noticed people fighting during a Foo Fighters performance AND stopped singing so that he could call them out, AND tell them to leave is just plain brilliant. Grohl just wants everyone to have a good time, and this is why this clip is worth remembering!

4. Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose stormed off after trying to take someone's camera away.

CalottaCalocchia / Via youtube.com

This is a prime example of having a bad day, and not keeping yourself in check at work. In the middle of performing, Axl Rose noticed someone with a camera and called for security to take it away, and when no one responded quickly enough, he took it upon himself to get down off the stage and try to grab the camera himself. When his efforts fail, he gets back on stage and says he's going home because of the security team, before throwing his mic and storming off set early. This is one wacky moment that is just not cool for fans!

5. Miley Cyrus humping every inflatable in sight on her Bangerz tour.

Christopher Polk / Via Getty Images

Miley Cyrus definitely had a phase when it came to inflatables. 

During her Bangerz tour, you would have seen a bunch of videos of her straddling inflatables or prancing around with phallic ones. At one particular London gig, Miley even started humping a gold car. All in all, this strange behavior didn't really add any value to her performances, and I'd argue it only ended up outshining her talents, so I'm glad she's left the inflatables behind for the most part!

6. Lady Gaga having green "vomit" spewed over her as part of her show.

Shoku Kanetsu / Via youtube.com

When Gaga took to the stage in Texas to perform at the SXSW festival in 2014, she was joined by an artist called Millie Brown. Whilst performing "Swine," Brown vomited green milk onto Gaga's breasts, but wait, it gets worse. ... Brown then drinks a bottle of black milk and climbs onto a mechanical bull with the singer to do it all over again. Not only is this disgusting, and I personally don't understand how it is meant to be "art," but the worst part for me was also watching Brown put her fingers down her throat to encourage the vomiting. The whole performance was just wacky, and ironically, left me feeling a bit sick!

7. Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off of a bat. And I'm still traumatized about it.

Paramount Television / Via youtube.com

Oh, this one is definitely up there with the worst on the list for me. The infamous bat-eating performance saw Ozzy Osbourne pick up a bat that someone threw on stage and bite its head off. Naturally, this sparked a lot of conversation and controversy, with Osbourne stating that he genuinely thought it was a rubber bat when he picked it up on stage until he bit into it. I can't deal with the footage from this one, and the whole thing is just horrible. Worst of it is, the fan that brought the bat claimed it was unconscious but alive, whilst the rockstar said it was definitely dead...so now, I'll be forever worrying just how much animal cruelty was involved here.

8. Madonna exposed a 17-year-old fan, and I have no idea why.

DnV news / Via youtube.com

Back in 2016, Madonna was performing in Brisbane when she pulled down the top of a female fan. In the much-circulated clip, Madonna can be seen looking at the fan whilst saying, “She’s the kind of girl that you just want to slap on the ass and pull…” as she pulled, the fan's corset top came down. As the fan's breast is exposed, Madonna makes a joke about sexual harassment.

I was never sure if this was a weird publicity stunt, but either way, it's just a strange thing for an artist to feel the need to do on stage. Luckily, follow up reports saw that the fan was happy and not embarrassed by the incident, but I still think it can go down as one of the strangest and most pointless on-stage incidents. Why, Madonna, why?!

9. On an Oasis tour in LA, Liam Gallagher hit his brother, Noel, over the head with a tambourine, and I WISH there was video evidence.

Martyn Goodacre / Via Getty Images

This is one viral moment I would have loved to have seen! We all know that the Gallagher brothers have had a rocky relationship over the years, and it definitely came to blows one night in LA when Liam hit Noel over the head with a tambourine. Do you think Noel saw stars or bells? Hehe, one for the on-stage history books I think; I just wish we could have all lived it!

10. Dave Grohl broke his leg in the middle of a show and still carried on playing like the legend he is.

Fredrik Eriksson / Via youtube.com

I couldn't help but put Dave Grohl on here twice, okay? He's a legend, and his on-stage actions seem to fall into the wow and wild factors. 

When touring Sweden, Grohl fell, dislocating his foot and breaking his leg. In his memoir, he recalls how it didn't hurt at first, and it was only the second song in, so he grabbed a microphone and told everyone he would fix it and come back. And that's exactly what he did; off-stage his ankle was put back into place and Grohl brought his paramedic doctor back on stage with him to hold his ankle in place for the rest of the set. Can you imagine how surreal the entire event would have been for that doctor and all of the fans watching? Iconic.

11. Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire.

Michael Ochs Archives / Via Getty Images

At the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire to cause a spectacle in one of the most memorable rock n' roll moments. Whilst playing "Wild Thing," Hendrix kisses his guitar, pours lighter fluid all over it, and lights it up. He then smashed it and threw its charred remains into the audience whilst walking away! Hendrix later stated that he destroyed his guitar as a sacrifice, and you sacrifice things you love.

12. Akon physically picked up and threw a fan off of the stage. WHY?!

heatheranddaveID / Via youtube.com

In one of the weirdest and perhaps surprising on-stage fiascos is the moment Akon decided to pick up a 15-year-old fan and toss him into the crowd. The viral clip clearly shows the actions were a hostile reaction after Akon believed the fan threw something at him. The musician was eventually charged for his actions.

13. Matt Healy chomped on what looked like raw meat as part of a 1975 show.

Mauricio Santana / Via Getty Images

Okay, Matt Healy seems to be constantly doing or saying weird things at 1975 gigs all the time, so it was almost hard to narrow it down. That said, I'd argue that seeing him chomp on what looks to be a raw slab of steak and then crawl across the stage is the eeriest for me. I don't know what it is, but I find the whole thing creepy, and I just don't get it. Is this what putting on a good show is supposed to look like nowadays, because count me out if so...

14. Keith Moon endangered the Who and concert attendees by setting off explosives in his drum kit.

Cbs Photo Archive / Via Getty Images

The late Keith Moon, drummer for the Who, loaded his drums with more flash powder than he'd previously ever used during the band's American TV debut in 1967 on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. According to Rolling Stone, the resulting explosion nearly blew the band off the stage, briefly blinded the TV cameras, and caused actor Bette Davis to faint away in the wings.

Though a prank, this one is a bit too wild, and Moon's actions could have seriously injured people!

15. Iggy Pop literally sliced an X onto his chest.

Michael Ochs Archives / Via Getty Images

Throwing it back to 1974 as we have another weird and outright outrageous performance by none other than Iggy Pop. When performing in LA as a solo artist, Iggy hurled racial abuse upon a spectator and goaded him to stab him with a steak knife he brought on stage...the spectator was having none of it, so Pop carved an X onto his own chest himself, as you do. The whole scenario sounds like a nightmare from a horror film!

16. Chris Brown took a fan's phone off them and threw it into the crowd.

itsbizkit / Via youtube.com

Again, I really can't tell if this was a staged stunt because all of the signs are there. Staged or not, though, the moment occurs when the singer is performing "Take You Down" to a fan who seems way more interested in recording the moment than living in it. 

After seemingly asking the fan to put the phone down, the singer later plucks the phone from the fan's hand and hurls it into the crowd with sheer force and determination, and it's a scene to be reckoned with. The underlying anger, obnoxiousness, and downright disregard for anyone potentially getting smacked in the audience is second to none! 

17. And lastly, punk rock artist GG Allin would defecate on stage, and this one disturbs me the most.

Frank Mullen / Via WireImage via Getty Images

The late GG Allin was a punk rock musician who performed with quite a few bands over his career. Allin is known as a rock n' roll degenerate, and all you have to do is google him to be hit with a mass of controversial stories about how he would perform on stage...though I'd recommend steering clear. 

One particular instance he is known for is when he played at a club in Peoria, Illinois with The Murder Junkies, and halfway through, Allin defecated on stage and apparently smeared himself in it. Safe to say this is one of the more gross and disturbing things to have happened on stage!

There you have it. That's my round-up of weird, wild, and wacky on-stage behavior, but what moment stands out for you the most?