Drake Gets Hit With Cell Phone Onstage During Tour's Opening Night

By Ashley Turner

Drake became the latest musician hit with an object while on stage. The "Hotline Bling" rapper delivered over 40 songs in his concert at United Center in Chicago on Thursday, performing alongside an actor playing his younger self and ducking a crowd member's phone. The first of 56 tour dates began with Drake performing hits such as "Marvins Room," "Headlines," "The Motto," "Started from the Bottom," "Sicko Mode," "Way 2 Sexy," "God's Plan," "Nice for What," "One Dance," and "Sticky." For the first time in more than a decade, the 36-year-old headliner performed a live rendition of the song "Look What You've Done," which he performed for the first time in 2012. Drake rapped the Take Care album cut as he sat on a couch with a younger version of himself who was bopping along to the beat during his performance. According to reports, a family friend plays the role of young Drake, whose resemblance to Drake initially led many to think it was a hologram. However, at one point in the performance, per attendees' videos, the actor hands Drake a book, which the rapper accepts and opens up.

21 Savage performed 12 songs solo after the former Degrassi star finished his set in an unconventional move. Before closing out the show with "Legend" from 2015's If You're Reading This It's Too Late, Drake joined him for five tracks from their joint 2022 album Her Loss. As Drake was performing the cover of Ginuwine's "So Anxious" on stage, a fan from the audience threw their cell phone at him during his performance. As captured on video by attendees, the rapper appeared to try and catch the flying phone but missed it and watched it fall to the ground. Drake did not appear to be injured by the thrown phone. However, his performance came after other celebrities such as Bebe Rexha, Kelsea Ballerini, and Pink were all surprised by concertgoers throwing objects during their performances. As recently as last month, Ballerini was struck in the face by a bracelet while performing in Idaho, and just days earlier, Bebe Rexha was severely injured after a fan threw a phone at her head, leaving her with a black eye and a cut on her face as a result.

"Hi. I'm fine. Someone threw a bracelet, it hit me in the eye, and it more so just scared me than hurt me," Ballerini wrote in her Instagram Story in response to the incident. "We all have triggers and layers of fears way deeper than what is shown, and that's why I walked offstage to calm down and make sure myself, band and crew, and the crowd all felt safe to continue. That's all I ever want, is for shows to feel like a safe place for us all." It was reported that Ava Max was slapped on stage by a concert crasher, and Pink was performing at London's Hyde Park when a fan threw a bag containing her late mother's ashes onto the stage. Several stars, like Adele, have promised to strike back against a fan throwing a phone in their direction, while others, such as Jason Derulo, are instructing artists not to engage with fans should they throw a phone at them.

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