Katy Perry is already brushing off the dust.
During the July 18 performance of her Lifetimes tour at San Francisco’s Chase Center, the “Firework” singer was involved in a scary incident in which she nearly fell off a huge flying butterfly in mid-air.
In a video shared to X July 19, Katy—who split from Orlando Bloom last month following a nine-year relationship—abruptly stopped singing her hit song “Roar” when the prop, which was suspended over the crowd, seemed to suddenly fall a few feet due to a shift in the wiring.
With a terrified look on her face, the singer held onto the body of the butterfly for stability while the prop continued to swing back and forth from the sudden movement. But once the prop seemed to regain stability, she raised her hand to signal that she was okay and gracefully went on to sing the rest of the song.
Hours later, the 40-year-old hilariously shared a zoomed in picture of her horrified reaction to her Instagram Stories alongside the caption, “Goodnight San Fran.”
After all, Katy—who shares 4-year-old daughter Daisy Dove with her estranged husband—is no stranger to rolling with the punches during a performance.
During one of her shows in Australia last month, the “California Gurls” singer was being lifted over the audience in a giant metallic sphere, as seen in a video shared to X, when the prop seemed to tilt to one side, leaving her gripping onto the cables to keep from falling.
And back when she was a judge on American Idol, she had to navigate some of the unexpected malfunctions on live television.
“It seems like every season something falls off, breaks, tears and the people love it,” Katy told E! News last April after her top broke in the middle of an episode. “So give the people what they want.”
“I have nothing to lose,” she added, “besides my top.”
And Katy isn’t the first artist to be faced with frightening onstage mishaps. Indeed, Beyoncé faced a similar situation during the first of two Cowboy Carter shows at Houston’s NRG Stadium last month.
While she was singing “16 Carriages,” the Grammy winner appeared to be stuck in a car suspended above the crowd after it began to tilt in mid-air.
So, she abruptly stopped singing, per a video shared to TikTok June 28, and instead started repeating, “Stop, stop, stop” into the microphone until she was safely lowered down to the center of the stadium.
“If ever I fall,” she quipped after returning to the stage, “I know y’all would catch me.”
For more unexpected concert moments, keep reading…
Luke Bryan
During his finale performance of “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” at the North Dakota State Fair in 2025, the American Idol judge was pelted with a flying object. However, the musician took it in stride, finishing the song without missing a beat.
As one fan noted, “Carried on like a champ.”
Nick Jonas
The Jonas Brothers member had to send out an S.O.S and ask fans to stop throwing things on stage after two bracelets almost hit him at a California stop on the group’s tour in 2023.
Cardi B
In case it wasn’t clear, Cardi B does not like it like that. When a front row patron splashed their drink on the performer mid-set at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas July 2023, she responded by throwing her microphone.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that an unidentified woman reported a battery case the day after the concert, but noted no arrest or citations have been issued. In August 2023, Cardi’s lawyers told TMZ that police informed them no chargers would be filed against the singer.
Bebe Rexha
Baby, Bebe Rexha is gonna have the best f–kin’ night of her life no matter what happens. Struck in the face when a man at her June 2023 show in NYC threw a phone, she later posted a photo of her injured eye, writing, “I’m good.”
Todd A Spodek, a lawyer for Nicolas Malvagna, who was arrested and charged with assault, told TMZ, “As a fan, Mr. Malvagna’s sole intention was to have Ms. Rexha take photos with his phone, and return it as a keepsake. It was never his intention to injure Ms. Rehxa.”
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Ballerini didn’t find it all that charming when someone tossed jewelry up on stage during a June 2023 performance in Idaho. “Someone threw a bracelet, it hit me in the eyes,” she wrote on Instagram Stories days later, “and it more so just scared me than hurt me.”
Ava Max
Listen, she’s not that sweet. Ava Max had words for the man who assaulted her during an L.A. performance in June 2023. “He slapped me so hard that he scratched the inside of my eye,” the “Sweet but Psycho” singer wrote on Twitter. “He’s never coming to a show again.”
Pink
Pink thought the fan who randomly passed her a wheel of Brie while she was singing at at London’s British Summer Time Festival in 2023 was kinda grate. “What the f–k,” the musician said, as she reached for the dairy. “I wanna kiss you on the mouth.”
But just give us a reason for why another fan tossed a bag of ashes the very next day. “This is your mom?” the “What About Us” singer asked. “I don’t know how to feel about this.”
Harry Styles
A sign of the times? Harry Styles had to get away from numerous flying objects during his Love on Tour, including, inexplicably, a handful of Skittles at a 2022 show in Los Angeles. A rep for the taste the rainbow brand later tweeted, “Didn’t think I needed to say this: Please don’t throw Skittles.”
Billie Eilish
What a boob. As Billie Eilish sang “Lost Cause” at a February 2022 show, one fan tossed a set of false boobs at her. But proving that she’s, uh, breast under pressure, the seven-time Grammy winner flung them back into the crowd and kept going.
Kid Cudi
Uh, guys, he warned you. Moments after Kid Cudi told the crowd at his 2022 Rolling Loud set, “Yo, I’m going to walk off this stage, if y’all throw one more f–king thing up here, I will leave,” he was pegged with yet another object. So he left.
Ariana Grande
Arianators were left feeling sour after Ariana Grande was beaned with a lemon while headlining Coachella in 2019. And though the singer was definitely not so into it, into it, into it, she brushed off the fruit, telling the crowd, “One of ya’ll threw a lemon at me, s–t.”
