Conversations about concert etiquette have been sparked once again as Billie Eilish becomes the latest artist to be hit on stage by a flying item.
From Lady Gaga to Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, within the last two years, several musicians have had objects thrown at them by someone in the crowd during their performances. Items have ranged from food to electronics including cabbage, cell phones, and roses.
Last night (December 13), a chunky necklace came close to hitting the “Birds of a Feather” star’s eye inside Glendale, Arizon’s Desert Diamond Arena.
In footage shared on X/Twitter, Eilish, 22, is seen on stage singing “What Was I Made For?” as the purple bead accessory catapults toward her.
Eilish flinches before the necklace bounces in front of her legs. Before continuing, Eilish sighed and flashed the crowd a disappointed look.
Frustrated fans took to social media to shame the concertgoers who think it’s a good idea to chuck random things at performers.
One woman mourned the days when people respected artists at concerts. “I miss concert etiquette, why is this allowed?” she asked on X.
Another said: “Crowd incidents are becoming too frequent.”
“People need to chill at concerts,” a third fan wrote, while a fourth agreed: “So cringe and disrespectful.”
Meanwhile, one person offered an opposing argument. “I personally think throwing things on stage can be fun and lead to great interaction but it’s always up to the artist. If they don’t support it (clearly she doesn’t), don’t do it. But like others like pink who welcome it, do it! it’s fun when consensual.”
“We stopped doing that in 2023…,” another individual disagreed.
Back when Harry Styles was touring in 2022, the “As It Was” vocalist was the target of many objects thrown, one of which was a skittle. During a show in Los Angeles, a fan chucked a single skittle that flew right into his eye.
Videos from the concert show the former One Direction bandmember waving at the crowd before the small candy scratched his left eye. Styles squinted as he bowed and navigated his way off stage, unable to open the injured eye.
Afterward, fans were outraged, arguing the 30-year-old artist might’ve been seriously injured.
“Whatever it was, only an idiot could throw things at a performing person. Just in case Harry had an injury that prevented him from going on another tour, or worse, permanent damage. This is not how love for an artist is shown in a civilized society,” one upset woman wrote under a YouTube video of the incident.
During Taylor Swift’s Buenos Aires leg of her Eras Tour in 2023, the “Fifteen” singer asked fans to stop this behavior for her own safety and that of her dancers. “Just because communication means having gentle, healthy boundaries, it really freaks me out when stuff gets thrown on the stage, because if it’s on the stage then a dancer can trip on it,” she said. “I love that you brought presents and that is so nice, but just can you please not throw them on the stage. I love you so much!”
