The Wildest Reasons Rock Stars Pulled the Plug
Listen up, because your favorite vinyl legends make today’s “divas” look like choir boys. We’ve all called out of work with a “headache,” but when you’re selling out stadiums, the excuses get a whole lot weirder. If you thought a little rain could stop the rock, think again, these legends had much stranger problems on their hands!
The shepherd’s pie showdown
We have to talk about Keith Richards again, because the man is a force of nature. In 1990, the Rolling Stones nearly caused a riot in Toronto, not because of a guitar mishap, but because of a kitchen catastrophe. Keith arrived backstage to find that someone had dared to “break the crust” of his shepherd’s pie. He went into a total meltdown, refusing to take the stage until a brand-new, untouched pie was baked from scratch. The crowd waited in the dark while a chef frantically mashed potatoes. No pie, no “Satisfaction”, period!
A literal bat out of hell
Then there’s the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. During his solo tour in ’82, he had to scrap shows not because he was too high, but because he was too bitten! After a fan tossed a live bat on stage and Ozzy, thinking it was a rubber toy, bit its head off, the bat bit back. He had to be rushed to the hospital for a grueling series of rabies shots. It turns out even the king of heavy metal has to surrender when nature (and a needle) calls.
The great poodle panic
Perhaps the most “classic rock” excuse of all time comes from the flamboyant David Bowie. In 2004, a disgruntled fan threw a lollipop that got stuck directly in Bowie’s eye. He finished the set like a pro, but the injury was so bizarre it led to cancellations. Even weirder? In the 70s, he reportedly wanted to cancel a gig because he was terrified of a “psychic poodle” he believed was sent to curse him. When the stars align, or the dogs bark, the show simply cannot go on.
