Pick a Day

Music History Events: Meltdowns

December 31, 2016 Taking the stage in Times Square to ring in the new year, Mariah Carey gets through "Auld Lang Syne" but then stops singing and narrates the technical problems to the crowd as the backing track plays on.More

November 19, 2016 At the Sacramento stop on his Saint Pablo Tour, Kanye West does three songs, delivers a 17-minute monologue, and leaves the stage.More

September 21, 2012 When Green Day's set is cut short at the iHeartRadio festival in Las Vegas, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong flies off the handle, stopping the show and going into a rant where he says, "I'm not f--king Justin Bieber, you motherf--kers. You've got to be f--king joking."More

October 31, 2010 Demi Lovato deletes her Twitter account and enters rehab after suffering a nervous breakdown on the Jonas Brothers tour. Stress from the tour and other commitments, including promoting her movie Camp Rock 2, led to an eating disorder and a dependency on drugs and alcohol - she had also broken up with her tourmate Joe Jonas, who had taken up a new girlfriend, Ashley Greene. Lovato leaves the facility in January 2011.

September 9, 2007 Britney Spears opens the MTV Video Music Awards with a listless lip-synch where she appears dazed and confused. Over the next few months, she loses custody of her kids and is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility.More

February 16, 2007 Britney Spears shaves her head at a hair salon, then gets some fresh ink at a tattoo parlor. It's the beginning of a public meltdown for Spears, who filed for divorce from Kevin Federline months earlier and is negotiating custody arrangements for their two children.

October 16, 1992 Sinéad O'Connor is booed when she takes the stage at Bobfest, a Bob Dylan tribute at Madison Square Garden. O'Connor had torn up a picture of the Pope 13 days earlier on Saturday Night Live, making her the most polarizing person in music. At Bobfest, she keeps going against the grain, scrapping her expected Dylan cover and shouting out a protest song instead.More

July 2, 1991 At a Guns N' Roses show in St. Louis, Axl Rose grows irate when he sees someone in the crowd taking pictures, and he leaves the stage, announcing, "Thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home." A riot follows, and the band's equipment is destroyed.More

December 23, 1964 After appearing on the TV show Shindig! where they perform their Christmas hit "Little Saint Nick," The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson has a nervous breakdown on a flight to Houston, where they begin a two-week tour. Wilson decides to stop performing, and Glen Campbell replaces him on the tour.

April 9, 2009 Following a contentious interview where he insults Canadian audiences, Billy Bob Thornton's music career hits a roadblock when he and his band the Boxmasters are booed at their show in Toronto opening for Willie Nelson. The Boxmasters cancel their remaining Canadian dates the next day.More

January 3, 2008 Britney Spears suffers from a mental breakdown in Beverly Hills, where she refuses to hand over her sons Jayden James and Sean Preston to their father, Kevin Federline. Britney is eventually taken to Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via ambulance and is admitted as a "special needs" patient.

February 22, 2004 A few songs into a Puddle Of Mudd show in Toledo, Ohio, lead singer Wes Scantlin's bandmates exit the stage because he's too drunk to perform. He sings and rambles for another 30 minutes before heading to his dressing room, where he's arrested for disorderly conduct.

July 29, 2011 At a Dallas concert, Kings Of Leon frontman Caleb Followill leaves the stage after complaining about the heat. He never returns, and the band cancels the rest of their tour. The incident is officially blamed on "dehydration," but Caleb's brother (and bass player) Jared later Tweets: "There are problems in our band bigger than not drinking enough Gatorade."

June 18, 2011 Amy Winehouse, fresh out of rehab, shows up an hour late for a concert in Belgrade, Serbia, stumbles around on stage and can barely sing. The rest of the tour is cancelled.

July 19, 2001 Mariah Carey makes a surprise appearance on MTV's Total Request Live where she comes off as rather unhinged, rambling aimlessly and doing a striptease for the host, Carson Daly.More

January 6, 1986 Following a suicide attempt and an alcohol-fueled nervous breakdown, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford finally goes to rehab. He gets out a month later, completes the Turbo album with the band, and manages to stay sober.

November 5, 1973 Pete Townshend freaks out when the backing tapes for the sound effects on "5:15" don't play properly during a Who concert at the Newcastle Odeon. Townshend takes out his rage by punching the road manager in charge of the tapes and tearing up the equipment. The show is stopped, but resumes about 15 minutes later.