Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses will stop throwing mic into crowd after fan was allegedly injured

Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY
·4 min read

Some traditions must come to an end.

Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose will no longer throw his microphone into the crowd after a woman alleged she got hurt at a concert in Australia, according to Australian media outlet ABC News and Sky News.

Rebecca Howe suffered bruises on her face when she was hit with Rose's microphone, according to the outlets. "I was just putting out a warning for people, if Axl sings 'Paradise City' get ready to duck for cover," Howe said.

As a response, Rose, 60, announced on Twitter Friday night that he will no longer toss his microphone to fans, ending a nearly 30-year tradition.

"If true, obviously we don't want anyone getting hurt or to somehow in any way hurt anyone at any of (our) shows anyway," the musician said. "Having tossed the mic at the end of (our) show for over 30 years we always felt it was a known part of the very end of (our) performance that fans wanted and were aware of to have an opportunity to catch the mic."

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Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose will no longer throw his microphone into the crowd after a woman alleged she got hurt at a concert in Australia.
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose will no longer throw his microphone into the crowd after a woman alleged she got hurt at a concert in Australia.

The "Sweet Child O' Mine" singer said the band will refrain from throwing the microphone and other items in the interest of public safety and thanked fans for understanding.

"Unfortunately there (are) those that for their own reasons chose to frame their reporting regarding this subject in a more negative n’ irresponsible out of nowhere light which couldn’t (be) farther from reality," Rose said. "We hope the public and of course (our) fans get that sometimes happens."

See also: Matt Sorum spills about drumming for Guns N' Roses, drugs and 'that Hollywood jive' in new book

A similar incident occurred in 2013 at a Guns N' Roses show

The mic-launching stung injured another fan in 2013. Darren Wright sued the frontman for damaging his two front teeth after Rose threw his microphone at the end of a March 2013 show in Perth, Australia.

"With the bright lights and explosions, I couldn’t see anything. The next thing I knew, I was whacked in the mouth. I thought I had been punched," Wright told The West Austrailan. "I was quite stunned and it took a few seconds to realise what was going on. I could feel bits of teeth in my mouth. Then someone is climbing through my legs to grab the microphone."

Artists throwing items into the crowd isn't the only concert tradition causing safety concerns. In recent months, videos have circulated online of Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Kid Cudi and Rosalía being thrown phones, bouquets of flowers and other objects at their body while performing onstage.

Harry Styles gets hit in the eye

@skittle.that.hit.harry I witnessed it 😒 - credit to @Golden Collective Co for the clip #harrystyles #november #concert #harryshouse #skitles #foryoupage ♬ original sound - Skittle 🍬

At a November show as part of his 15-night residency in Inglewood, Styles got hit in the eyeball with a skittle thrown by a fan while performing his hit song "As It Was." His bandmate Pauli Lovejoy asked fans on Instagram Live last month to be more cautious at future shows.

"H came through, confirming his eye is okay. But do me a favor, don’t throw no more Skittles on stage," Lovejoy said.

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Kid Cudi storms offstage after fans throw objects

In July, Kid Cudi stormed off the stage during his set at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami after concertgoers threw water bottles at him.

The rapper was tapped to headline the hip-hop festival after Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, pulled out of his headliner slot. In videos posted on social media, Cudi can be seen performing onstage as fans throw what appear to be water bottles and other objects at him. In one of the videos, Cudi is hit in the face with one of the objects.

"Yo, I will walk off this stage if y’all throw one more (expletive) thing up here. I will leave, I will leave right now," Cudi said. "I’m not (expletive) playing, you will ruin it for everybody. I will (expletive) leave if I get hit with one more (expletive) thing, if I see one more (expletive) thing on this (expletive) stage."

The Grammy-winning emcee walked off stage right after another bottle was thrown at him, abruptly ending his performance.

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Rosalía gets hit in the face with a bouquet of flowers

In October, Spanish singer Rosalía was left speechless when a fan threw a bouquet of flowers directly at her face at a San Diego show during her Motomami World Tour.

She maintained her composure, smiled at the crowd and fired off an imaginary bow into the crowd.

Fan throws their phone at Bad Bunny

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In August, during one of his World's Hottest Tour shows, videos circulated online of Bad Bunny getting hit by a fan's phone while he was onstage. The Puerto Rican reggaeton star was then seen picking up the fan's phone and tossing it away from the stage.

@katherineee_16 do not recommend 🥴 #worldshottesttour #badbunny #worldshottesttour2022 #badbunnyconcert @badbunny ♬ original sound - katherine

Contributing: Edward Segerra

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Guns N' Roses Axl Rose to stop throwing mic at crowd after fan injury

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