Billie Eilish was hit in the face by a necklace thrown onto the stage by a fan while she was performing.
- READ MORE: Billie Eilish – ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’ review: bold, brilliant and somewhat brighter
Eilish played a show at the Desert Diamond Arena in Arizona last night (December 13) and was sat cross-legged on the floor singing ‘What Was I Made For?’ when the incident happened.
Fan-filmed footage showed Eilish flinching as the necklace hit her and the crowd is heard reacting in surprise, some booing. Eilish quickly carries on singing, before picking up the necklace and tossing it to the side.
The artist hasn’t yet commented on the incident.
Billie Eilish was struck by a necklace thrown from the crowd during her concert tonight.
— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) December 14, 2024
Last year, various artists had objects thrown at them by fans while on stage, which sparked widespread concern in the entertainment world. Eilish herself said that the trend was “infuriating”.
“People just get excited and it can be dangerous,” she said, trying to explain why she thinks some fans throw items at the artists. “I have mixed feelings about it, because when you’re up there it blows. But you know it’s out of love and they’re just trying to give you something.”
“We get it, but don’t do it,” she added. “It’s absolutely infuriating when you’re up there. You’re in a vulnerable position.”
“I’ve been getting hit on stage with things for like, literally, six years. I don’t know why this is, like, new,” she told The Hollywood Reporter at the Barbie world premiere.
Pink was left shocked at her BST Hyde Park concert after a fan threw a bag of her mother’s ashes on the stage. At another show, a fan handed P!nk a full wheel of cheese from the front row.
Since then, Lil Nas X briefly stopped a show in Stockholm to deal with the unexpected arrival onstage of an artificial sex toy, and Bebe Rexha required stitches after she was hit in the face by a mobile phone at a New York show. Steve Lacy also smash a phone thrown at him.
Numerous other artists have called for concertgoers to stop throwing things onstage, including Adele, Kelly Clarkson and Latto. Billie Eilish described the trend as “infuriating”, while Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor said that “artists aren’t regarded as people anymore”.
Taylor Swift also told fans not to throw things at her on stage, insisting that it “really freaks me out”.
In other news, Eilish recently performed NPR Tiny Desk for the first time since 2020 accompanied by her brother Finneas. She performed four acoustic tracks, telling the small audience in Washington it was a “nerve-wracking” moment for her.
She performed stripped-back versions of ‘The Greatest’, ‘L’Amour de Ma Vie’ and ‘Birds Of A Feather’, with the latter recently named as the 12th best song of 2024 by NME.
All three songs were taken from ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’, which was also named in NME’s list of the Best Albums Of 2024, coming in at Number Nine. But Eilish surprised fans with a deep cut, and sang ‘I Love You’ from her debut LP, ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’.