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When the music stops and reality takes over... Join us as we explore those jaw-dropping moments when artists shared more than just their music on stage! Our countdown includes Phish's elaborate prank, Jeff Buckley's surprising tribute, Kanye's infamous rant, Dylan going electric, and Tupac appearing as a hologram. What onstage revelation shocked you the most?
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00:00He's gotta get, he's gotta get an acoustic guitar.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 10 onstage revelations and reveals in music that came totally out of left field.
00:14Hey, don't send killers at my head, bro. This ain't the Malcolm X movie. We growing from that moment.
00:22Fish invented a fake band to cover themselves.
00:30Sometimes a band can get bored with simply existing in their own form.
00:41For Fish, they decided to use their 2018 Halloween concert as a chance to play an elaborate prank on their fans.
00:48First, they built fake reviews, phony backdated interviews, and all other relevant information for a Scandinavian prog rock band called Cosvat Vext.
01:00They even wrote and recorded a 10-song album, supposedly the group's sole release in the 1980s before they quickly disbanded.
01:13Then, on Halloween of 2018, they proceeded to cover the entire album as if it existed independently of them.
01:20It didn't, and it was an all-time great musical prank.
01:24Say it to me, Santos, it's off to work we go. Say it to me, Santos, ha-ho, ha-ho, ha-ho.
01:34Tim Buckley's son can sing?
01:36Sail to me, let me enfold you. Here I am. Here I am.
01:48The legendary singer Tim Buckley never truly wanted to be in his son Jeff's life.
01:53His own hedonistic attitude would cause him to tragically pass away at just 28 years old.
01:59Tim, to this day, is regarded as an icon of folk, jazz, and even certain types of avant-garde music.
02:05However, when his son decided to sing at a tribute concert for him in 1991, people were shocked.
02:11Jeff Buckley blew the crowd away. He looked like his father and sounded even better.
02:18Danny Fields, the director of publicity at Elektra Records during Tim's heyday, was shocked by Jeff's talent.
02:24Jeff had done a lot of session guitarist work in the years before, but after holding regrets over missing his estranged father's funeral, he decided to pay one final tribute.
02:33The resulting hype led to his debut album, Grace, which was released to critical acclaim.
02:39He, too, would pass away very young, accidentally drowning at the age of 30.
02:52Coldplay cheating scandal.
02:54Just because you're standing in a crowd alongside thousands of other people, it doesn't mean you can't be singled out.
03:11The band decided to use a kiss cam in the middle of a 2025 show in Boston.
03:16A seemingly harmless and fun little exercise.
03:20However, they accidentally captured Andy Byron, the then-CEO of Astronomer, holding Kristen Kabat, the company's chief people officer.
03:33They immediately looked mortified to be caught on camera.
03:37This led to a huge viral controversy and speculation over the two having an affair.
03:42Details about the exact nature of the relationship and respective marital statuses remain muddled.
03:47But Byron resigned from his job as a result.
03:51This requires, to me, not one, but two resignations.
03:55Fortune magazine is predicting severe consequences for the company's culture, reputation, and financial stability.
04:02Demi Lovato's struggles with substance use.
04:06Is it out there, you know?
04:07Like, my mom was like, yeah, it's out there.
04:09Everyone knows a lot of people are worried, a lot of people are concerned, and a lot of people love you.
04:14Demi Lovato has never been afraid to get real with her fans about her own struggles.
04:19One moment that truly stands out was her decision to reveal, during a 2018 gig, that she had been sober for six years.
04:26Lovato explained exactly how deep into the depths of substance use disorder she had been and how much it took for her to finally address the problem.
04:34As you might expect, there was an outpouring of support for the singer and her attempts to remove the stigma around these types of discussions.
04:52All in all, it was a powerful moment and one that, no doubt, helped many of her fans with their own battles.
04:59I promise I could help, it wasn't my intention, I'm sorry to myself.
05:08Billy Joe Armstrong's Onstage Meltdown.
05:10Do you have the time to listen to me wide?
05:16I'll find nothing in everything I want.
05:20Green Day is renowned for their energetic and incredibly long live shows, frequently playing sets that clock in in over three hours.
05:27However, their show at 2012's iHeart Music Festival is one that they would probably rather forget.
05:34After supposedly being pressured to finish their set earlier than they would have liked, singer Billy Joe Armstrong kicked off a rant that left even the band's biggest fans shocked.
05:44Let me tell you something, I've been around since f***ing 1988, and you're gonna give me one f***ing minute?
05:55You gotta be f***ing kidding me!
05:58Armstrong then left the stage and it immediately became a notorious viral video.
06:02The singer was clearly regretful and embarrassed the following day though, and immediately checked into rehab to address substance use disorder issues that had followed him for years.
06:11I thought that I could kind of go back and be like a, you know, just a normal drinker again, or something like something.
06:18And I think I was for a little bit, and then it just escalated.
06:22Kanye West's 2016 onstage rant at Sacramento.
06:26After starting a 2016 Sacramento show 90 minutes late, the famously unpredictable Kanye West did damage to his reputation that would follow him for the next decade.
06:51Though he was always seen as erratic, the music was still at the forefront of everything he did.
06:57However, after just a couple of tracks, West decided to forego his originally scheduled concert and launch into a wild rant about politics, Beyonce, and of course, himself.
07:08Feelings matter, bruh. Feelings matter, bruh. It's a new world, Henry Clayton. It's a new world. Feelings matter.
07:22West didn't care that his fans had shelled out hundreds of dollars to go see him.
07:26He indulged himself by rambling endlessly before eventually exiting the stage.
07:31The rest of the tour was subsequently cancelled for obvious reasons.
07:35I want people to come to the Pablo shows and know it's just going to be the best time they've had in their life.
07:40So this is going to change a lot as you go?
07:44A little bit. I mean, those are the main cues. You've just got to get them really, really lined up.
07:48David Gilmore announces Pink Floyd's final performance.
07:52That I have become comfortably numb.
08:00Pink Floyd is one of those rare bands that called it quits and kept their word.
08:05Or at least, they did until one standalone appearance for a good cause in 2015.
08:11Live 8 was the sequel to the legendary Live Aid from 1985.
08:15The original had enough pull to bring Led Zeppelin back together, and Live 8 did the same for Pink Floyd.
08:22That didn't mean that Floyd fans should have taken this as anything more than a one-off show for the group.
08:26Tensions were obviously still high, but not high enough that they could say no to such a charitable endeavor.
08:33So when David Gilmore told the crowd that this would likely be Pink Floyd's final show, he meant it.
08:38Thank you very much.
08:49Bob Dylan goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival.
08:53Bob Dylan was the poster boy for a new era of folk music.
09:05He composed his own songs, tunes that would become standards for a new generation.
09:09He plucked his acoustic guitar well and sang with a timelessly rough voice despite being in his early 20s.
09:15However, Bob had no interest in being anything other than his own man.
09:20Darkness at the break of noon, shadows even the silver spoon, the handmade blade, the child's balloon,
09:26eclipses both the sun and moon, to understand you know too soon, there is no sense in trying.
09:32So in 1965, he decided to radically alter his musical direction,
09:37taking to the stage at the Newport Folk Festival with a fully electric band behind him.
09:42Fans who were there to hear the fresh-faced young singer musing on how the times were a-changing were left shocked.
09:48Dylan had officially gone electric, changing music history forever.
10:08Tupac performed as a hologram.
10:11Coachella 2012's headline set from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg was a memorable one for many reasons.
10:26Not only did it give fans a chance to hear fresh takes on some of their most iconic hip-hop tracks of the last two decades,
10:33there was also a host of A-list special guests.
10:36However, one rapper that fans did not anticipate seeing was the late, great Tupac Shakur,
10:42or in this case, a digitally recreated hologram of him.
10:50As you might expect, this decision split people down the middle.
10:55Some enjoyed the novelty of finally experiencing something close to what a Pac gig might have been like.
11:00There were also those who felt that it exploited the legendary artist's memory and likeness.
11:06David Bowie retires Ziggy Stardust.
11:32David Bowie has always had a flair for the theatrical, but even by his standards,
11:46killing off his most famous creation with a throwaway line on stage was truly wild.
11:51During the final stop of his 1973 tour with his band The Spiders From Mars,
11:56Bowie decided to drop an almighty bombshell on the crowd.
11:59Prior to singing their final song, David very briefly mentioned that this would be the band's final ever show.
12:06Not only is it the last show of the tour, but it's the last show that we'll ever do.
12:15Of course, what he really meant was the character of Ziggy and the band in their current guises.
12:20This didn't stop the media from flying into a frenzy.
12:24However, Bowie would, of course, continue making music right up until he passed away in 2016.
12:29What onstage revelation left you the most shocked?
12:43Let us know in the comments below.
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