Luke Bryan Gets Hit in the Face During Concert After Fan Throws Object Onto Stage

Luke Bryans’ performance at the North Dakota State Fair on Saturday was interrupted when a concertgoer threw an object directly at his face.

The American Idol judge was in the middle of his hit song “Country Girl” when an object that appeared to be a ball was thrown from the crowd and struck him.

Video of the moment shared online showed Bryan on stage mid-performance and hyping up the crowd as he sang his 2011 hit. While most fans could be seen waving their hands in the air to the beat, things took a scary turn when a ball-like object, later confirmed by police to be a stress ball, flew through the air from the crowd and hit Bryan square in the face. The singer appeared visibly annoyed by the interruption, but didn’t miss a beat as he continued the performance.

@rissway

Poor @Luke Bryan got hit in the face during his encore 😅 carried on like a champ though #ndstatefair #lukebryan To use this video in a commercial player or in broadcasts, please contact licensing@storyful.com

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While Bryan hasn’t addressed the incident, as video of the moment circulated online, many fans expressed their dismay and disappointment at the rowdy concertgoer. Commenting on the video, one person encouraged concertgoers to “do better,” as somebody else said “shame on whoever did this.” Many more applauded Bryan for his casual reaction, one person admitting that they would have walked off the stage and been done singing.” Another person said that although they are not a fan of Bryan’s music, “you know he’s a good guy when he takes that amount of disrespect and shrugs it off.”

The Ward County Sheriff’s Office, who works with the State Fair on security, confirmed that the person who threw the stress ball has not yet been identified and there is currently no open case file for the incident as no one had filed a complaint, KMOT reported. Chief Deputy Larry Hubbard acknowledged that items being thrown at concerts has been a common issue, stating, “It is an issue, especially when they are throwing it at all, but when they’re throwing it at the stage, at the artist. I think it paints the event in a bad light.”

Other artists, including Lady Gaga, Bebe Rexha, and Kelsea Ballerini, have had items thrown at them on stage, with some of them even being hit. In 2023, Adele addressed the lack of concert etiquette at shows, joking with a crowd, “I f–ing are you. Dare you to throw something at me and I’ll f–ing kill you… Stop throwing things at the artist.”

As for Bryan, who only recently returned to the stage after having to cancel several performances due to COVID-19, the singer is next set to perform at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in St. Louis, Missouri Thursday night. He has additional performances scheduled across the country through October.