Musician Ryan Adams’ disaster-laden tour of Australia is over and he left quite an impression, after vowing never to return.
But he is not the first musical artist who has made headlines for the wrong reasons while touring down under.
In fact everyone from the late singer Meat Loaf to pop star Katy Perry have had a less than pleasant experience while touring Australia.
Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest controversies to plague musicians visiting our shores.
Meat Loaf’s AFL grand final show
When organisers of the 2011 AFL grand final announced they had secured musical legend Meat Loaf as the headline performer, no one could have imagined the fallout that would come.
The star was reportedly paid $600,000 for the 12-and-a-half minute performance, which featured a medley of his hits but was widely panned, with much of his singing off-key.
Fourteen years on, it is remembered as one of the worst musical performances in AFL Final history.
The fallout from his performance was swift, but instead of taking it on the chin, he called the organisers “the cheapest people I’ve ever seen in my life”.
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It was almost four years before he finally issued an explanation.
“I did a tour in Australia with a haemorrhaging vocal cord,” he told Billboard in March 2015.
“I was spitting blood every night on stage. And I’ve got nothing but grief and major hostility.
“I gave those people everything I had and more.
“I had flown 44 people to Australia, we’re all sitting there. Insurance wouldn’t cover the band and everybody going back, so I just said, ‘OK, let’s go’.”
But in September that year he finally issued a heartfelt apology via Facebook.
”I can’t take it back. It happened and I am truly sorry,” he wrote. “I have learned one lesson from now on; no matter what happens or when it happens there is only one person to blame and that is myself.
“Stand like a man and say I am sorry. I may never see you again and I can never repay what the people of Australia have given too me. I betrayed your trust, I apologise for any feelings that I have hurt.
“My behaviour was extremely inappropriate, immature, and lacked the respect for the people of Australia and the Australian football league.
“Again, I am sorry for my actions and I hope that we can put this matter behind us.”
Meat Loaf died in January 2022 at the age of 74 from COVID, having never returned to Australia.
Billy Idol’s 2002 NRL grand final performance
When Rocker Billy Idol was announced as them 2002 NRL grand final performer, most expected he would get the crowd up on their feet.
But within moments of arriving in the stadium aboard a hovercraft the show was over.
Idol’s mode of transport was later found to have severed the main power cable leading to the stage that had been erected on the field.
After a few minutes of Idol ad-libbing, even telling the crowd, “I love my footy”, someone came on stage to whisper in his ear that the show would not go on and the crowd erupted in boos.
Azealia Banks’ 2022 tour
When US rapper and singer-songwriter Azealia Banks announced she was coming to Australia for the first time in six years, the news was met with excitement from fans, but before the tour was even over she vowed never to return again.
Banks was meant to perform one show each in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
However, her Melbourne show was postponed due to “visa issues”.
Then she ended up cancelling the Brisbane show outright before posting an Instagram video saying it was because a previous show in the city six years earlier was “the most racist, most demoralising experience of my f—ing life”.
“I’m so sorry you guys – actually I’m not sorry – but listen: last time I was in Brisbane and y’all threw s— on the stage and damn near almost f—ing hit me in the face with a f–king bottle of soda or whatever that s— was,” she said.
“That was the most racist, most demoralising experience of my f—ing life and right now I’m on a really good track.
“Sydney and Melbourne are the only cities I really want to play. Y’all got a whole different culture around here. I am too far away from home… I am a beautiful Black woman and I am not going to get in front of some audience of white people for them to be throwing s–t at me.
“I am so not sorry. I am not sorry at all. Brisbane, y’all are just going to have to take the L and smoke it.”
She then ruled out returning to Australia ever again.
“After this run this will be my very last time touring Australia,” she said.
“This place makes me utterly miserable and I’m too Black and beautiful to have a bunch of white people in my face playing with me over their WEAK ASS CURRENCY.”
Chris Brown’s cancelled tour
When controversial pop star Chris Brown announced he was heading to Australia for three shows in December 2015, some people were outraged given he had a conviction for assaulting and threatening to kill his former girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.
While the UK and Canada had barred him from entering their countries and there was a question mark over whether he would be allowed to play in New Zealand, ticket sales for his shows in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney were already underway.
But just weeks before he was set to perform, all three concerts were cancelled after Brown lost an appeal against an earlier decision by the Australian government to ban him from entering the country.
It came after Brown took to Twitter, now X, to plead his case.
“My life mistakes should be a wake-up call for everyone. Showing the world that mistakes don’t define you. Trying to prevent spousal abuse.”
Fans were informed via email the tour was cancelled and offered a refund, even though his tour promoters were hopeful a tour would take place “in the near future”.
It was not to be, with Brown never again setting foot back in the country.
Katy Perry’s 2025 tour
When Katy Perry arrived in Australia earlier this year for a series of shows as part of her The Lifetimes Tour, little did she know her performances would be overshadowed by a string of events.
First, fans of her early shows started complaining about the quality of the production.
Then there was criticism of her own performance, including her dancing and singing.
As the tour dragged on, things went from bad to worse.
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In June, a stage invader rushed the stage and put their arm around Perry before they were led away.
That same month, during a Sydney show, she yelled, “Oh dear” as an aerial stunt appeared to go wrong as she was suspended over the crowd.
The following month, an Adelaide concert was interrupted when the sphere she was riding in malfunctioned, causing it to jolt and tilt, almost sending her flying out.
She had to be rescued by her crew before she could continue the show.
Of course, the end of her tour was overshadowed when news broke that she had split with partner of nine years, Orlando Bloom.
Soon after the split, videos emerged of Perry being overcome with tears while on stage.
Olivia Rodrigo falls into a hole on Melbourne stage
US singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo was performing her final show at the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, in October 2024, when she fell through an open stage hatch on stage while she was mid-show.
The horrifying moment was captured by fan videos.
Rodrigo was running sideways when she suddenly disappeared as fan’s cheers turned to screams.
As quickly as it happened she climbed back out of the hole and announced “Oh my God, that was fun. I’m OK,” before continuing with the show.
The incident quickly went viral, which was aided by Rodrigo posting a clip.
She later discussed the incident during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and said that after the show ended, she went to hospital to be checked out, and met a nurse who was a Filipino man with the same name as her grandfather, who had recently passed away.
”And I was like, ‘Wow that was him looking out for me, making sure I didn’t get hurt’, and so I was really happy it happened.”
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