Throwing Things at Artists: Do or Don’t?

Lately, there have been a lot of videos circulating on the internet of major artists getting hit with various objects while performing. Artist such as Ice Spice getting hit in the face with a phone, Kelsea Ballerini getting hit in the face with a “friendship bracelet,” and Harry Styles seems to be getting hit all sorts of objects in all sorts of places…yikes.

But where does it all stem from? Why do they throw things? And what do they throw?

Well, we went back to season 2 of Paradox Jukebox and our conversation with Chris Donahue, an incredibly talented bassist with an even more impressive resume. Chris told us about his experience playing for Tom Jones and the *little souvenir.* Check out the entire episode below!

While throwing things is definitely not new, it is new that things being thrown are causing physical harm to artists. We understand that fans want to give gifts to their favorite artists however, throwing it at them while they’re trying to perform is definitely not the way to do it. Most artists, especially country artists have a PO Box (You can send mail directly through The Grand Ole Opry to any Opry member, including Kelsea Ballerini.)

When you go to a show, there’s definitely an element of the show’s culture & unique experience bringing in the items that are being thrown. For example, friendship bracelets have become a popular bartering item at Taylor Swift and Kelsea Ballerini shows. Flowers are thrown at Harry Styles during one particular line of his song but, he expects it to happen. At Tom Jones shows, it’s well know that multiple lingerie items, notes, flowers, etc., will be thrown on stage. The artists and the crew are prepared for those things to happen. When a literal UFO goes flying at an artists’ head, potentially causing them major harm, there’s a problem.

Think about it. If the phone that hit Ice Spice had caused any serious physical damage, she might have had to cancel the tour. If Kelsea Ballerini’s eye had been harmed by the bracelet that hit her, the same would be said for her.

So, before you go to your next show, prepared to chuck your offerings to your favorite artist, do some research as to whether or not that artist has somewhere you can send them gifts via the good ole’ US Postal Service, or, if there’s a meet & greet, give it to them there!

We know It’s not Unusual for these things to happen. (Had to.) Just try and be a little more conscious of your actions.