A Morrissey concert ended abruptly after his adoring fans rushed the stage in Dallas which left a bodyguard injured.
The ugly incident happened when the 65-year-old singer-songwriter – who claimed former bandmate Johnny Marr ‘ignored’ a lucrative offer to reform The Smiths – was nearing the end of his show as a solo artist at the Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas Saturday night.
He had just come out to perform the encore, complete with his mesmerizing baritone vocals, for a rendition of First Of The Gang To Die, off his album You Are The Quarry (2004), when a young women casually jump on stage.
Seemingly in the know about Morrissey fans wanting to reach out and touch him during his concerts, a security worker walked over to greet a female fan on stage, but let her to move closer to the star of the show, who then reciprocated with a hug, as reported by TMZ.
Copycats quickly pounced on the moment, with another young lady who happened to be right in front of the Everyday Is Like Sunday artist who had a clear and easy path to jump on stage for a hug.
Morrissey, 65, had to cut his concert at Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas, Texas short Saturday night, November 2, when fans rushed the stage
One fan’s jump on to the stage to hug the singer set off a bunch of copycats, resulting in him being escorted off, ending the show
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Seeing their success, a young woman used her speed to run towards Morrissey (born Steven Patrick Morrissey), but a second security worker sprinted across the stage to intercept her but not before she got to touch her musical hero.
Fan after fan then started jumping up on stage, but the final straw came when a man bolted up and it got a little too crazy.
As the situation really started to get chaotic, fans from both sides of the stage began to run up to meet the Davyhulme, Lancashire, England native.
By this point, Morrissey found himself in the middle of three security guards and three fans all grabbing at him, which started to get a bit scary.
Despite this, he did reach out and touch at least one of the men and the lady, before he was eventually ushered off the stage, while the band continued to play the encore song.
It is relatively common for fans to rush the stage and attempt to hug Morrissey during his concerts, as it’s often seen as a ‘rite of passage’ for dedicated fans.
Many fans see physically reaching Morrissey as a way to express their deep admiration and connection to him.
It turns out there was at least one casualty when one of those security workers came up lame when he was trying to push one of those people back away from Morrissey.
During the encore song, a female fan casually walked on to the stage while the security worker let her hug Morrissey, and then send her back down
The British performer remained calm when the fans began to try and greet him
It is relatively common for fans to rush the stage and attempt to hug Morrissey during his concerts, as it’s often seen as a ‘rite of passage’ for dedicated fans
Many fans see physically reaching Morrissey as a way to express their deep admiration and connection to him.
Eventually, things started to get chaotic and security began to intercepting the stage rush
The former frontman of The Smiths kept singing as the rush began to escalate
Ultimately, Morrissey was escorted off the stage by a security worker and the show ended
That bodyguard could be seen limping off the stage, clearly unable to put his full body weight on on both legs, in what is likely a knee or foot injury.
Another of the stage hands would run over to the injured man and escort him to safety in the backstage area.
As the frontman of The Smiths, Morrissey attracted attention for his trademark quiff and witty and sardonic lyrics during their reign in the alternative rock world releasing for studio albums between 1982 and 1987.
Deliberately avoiding rock machismo, he cultivated the image of a sexually ambiguous social outsider who embraced celibacy with songs like What Difference Does It Make? Girlfriend In A Coma and Started Something I Couldn’t Finish.
Morrissey had only just kicked off the latest leg of his tour on Halloween, two days earlier; with the next show scheduled for Monday, November 4 on Little Rock, Arkansas
After going solo amid strife in The Smiths, Morrissey has dropped 13 solo studio albums, with the 14th – Without Music the World Dies – still pending.
This leg of Morrissey’s tour only just kicked off on Halloween, two days before the Dallas show, and is expected to resume with a show in Little Rock Arkansas on Monday.
It is scheduled to go through the East and the Midwest until November 23, ending with a concert in Waukegan, Illinois.