Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has broken his silence after a woman said she suffered traumatic facial injuries after being hit by a flying microphone.
The rock legend took to Twitter on Saturday morning to talk about the incident for the first time and made a powerful promise in response to what happened.
The singer said the band would stop its 30-year tradition of dropping microphones at concerts, in the interest of “public safety”.
“It has been brought to my attention that a fan may have been injured at our show in Adelaide, Australia, possibly being hit by the mic at the end of the show when I traditionally throw the mic at the fans,” the musician said.
“If it’s true, we obviously don’t want anyone to get hurt or hurt anyone in any way at any of our shows anywhere.
“Having thrown the mic at the end of our show for over 30 years, we always felt it was a familiar part of the end of our performance that fans wanted and were aware of when they had the chance to grab the mic.
“Regardless of the interest of public safety from now on, we will refrain from throwing the microphone or anything at fans during or during our performances.
“Unfortunately, there are those who, for their own reasons, chose to frame their reports on this issue in a more negative and irresponsible way out of nowhere which could not be further from the truth. We hope that the audience and of course the fans understand that this happens sometimes.
“A BIG THANK YOU to everyone for their understanding.”
The woman involved, Rebecca Howe, was attending the legendary rock band’s Adelaide concert on Tuesday when the incident occurred.
At the end of the show, the group played their last song of the night paradise city when lead singer Axl Rose threw his microphone into the crowd.
Ms Howe claims she was hit in the face by the flying object, suffering two black eyes and a broken nose as a result.
Talking to him Adelaide AdvertiserHowe said there was “blood everywhere” after the crash.
“I was in Diamond Standing, so I wasn’t even at the front, and it was the last song, Take Me Down To Paradise City,” Ms Howe said.
“He took a bow and then threw the mic into the crowd … and then it hit, right on the bridge of my nose.”
Ms Howe said the offending microphone was grabbed by another fan as he tried to staunch the bleeding, fearing the impact had broken his nose.
“There was a lot of anger when this man was trying to grab the microphone … he held it up like a victory, ‘I got it, I got it,’ as he tried to keep his composure,” he said.
“An off-duty police officer pulled me aside because I was in shock and hyperventilating, my mind was like, ‘Oh my God, my face has collapsed.’
“I had blood dripping down my face.”
This incident is not the first time a fan has been injured at a Guns N’ Roses show due to a microphone being thrown.
In 2013, Perth man Darren Wright launched legal action to pay $5,000 in dental costs after a flying microphone damaged his two front teeth while opening for Guns N’ Roses’ Australian tour.
Ms Howe expressed her concern as the band continue their run of shows across the country.
“I’m worried, they’re going to Melbourne on the 3rd – what if he throws the mic back into the crowd and something worse happens?” she said
“What if I was a couple of inches to the right or to the left? I could have lost an eye…what if it hit me in the mouth and broke my teeth? What if it turned my head and hit me in the the temple, it could have killed me.”
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