Rock Star Calls Australia ‘Worst Country Ever’ to Play After On-Stage Meltdown

October 28, 2025, 2:19am

One popular rockstar caused some controversy after calling Australia the “worst country ever to play” after being “harassed” at a show.

Ryan Adams told The Courier Mail that he has a condition where flash photography causes him to have an ocular seizure, but a fan at a show in Sydney kept taking flash photos of him anyway.

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In a now-deleted Instagram post, he wrote, “Worst country ever, every time to play, Thank f— never again. You are the worst people and you know it and the best you can go is copy Americans and UK culture. Stew in your own juices.”

Another deleted post went into further detail: “Here’s some clarity. My shows say NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY. Why ? Because they can cause me to have a SEIZURE, or worse. Ian from Joy Division had this disorder. Several musicians recently have had to quit because audiences in certain places don’t seem to care despite signs, announcements and it being on your actual ticket. I regret saying anything after and I regret making it seem like I was addressing an entire country. I wasn’t.”

Adams is a prolific singer-songwriter, having released 30 studio albums on top of producing, writing or collaborating on songs for acts like Fall Out Boy, Willie Nelson, Weezer, Norah Jones, Counting Crows, and more.

He later apologized in another Instagram post.

“I overreacted to a troll who repeatedly harassed myself and others in Sydney. It was a beautiful show. It was wrong. I should have just showed the standing ovation,” he wrote. “We are all so tired, giving the shows all we have, beyond any above. We came here because we love you and want to play 3 hour shows for you… To my agents and management and my crew and my fans I am sorry.”