A fan threw a cell phone from the crowd and struck country singer Riley Green directly in the face during his performance at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday (March 14), bringing the show to a brief halt.
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The phone hit Green near his ear, with blood quickly running down his neck following the impact. Crew members rushed to assist the country singer, wiping away the blood with a hand towel as thousands of fans looked on.
Despite the injury, Green addressed the situation from the stage and made clear the behavior would not be tolerated. The fan responsible was immediately removed from the venue. Green subsequently posted to his own Instagram account appearing to address the incident.
After the brief interruption, Green shook off the incident and finished the set, unwilling to let one audience member derail the night. Following the incident, Green shared a fan-captured clip of the moment to his Instagram Stories, followed by a photo of medics tending to his injury backstage. He then returned to the stage to finish the show.
The Melbourne show was the second of two sold-out dates at Margaret Court Arena as part of the Australian leg of Green’s Cowboy As It Gets Tour. The run also featured a surprise mid-set appearance by Randy Houser, who joined Green onstage for Green’s “Cowboy As It Gets” before the pair performed Houser’s own “Like a Cowboy.”
Green continues the Australian run with two shows at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on March 16 and 17, before co-headlining CMC Rocks QLD in Ipswich, Queensland on March 20.
The incident is the latest in a years-long and growing trend of concertgoers throwing objects at artists during live performances. In 2023, pop singer Bebe Rexha was struck in the face when a concertgoer threw a phone directly at her during a Manhattan show, splitting her eyebrow and requiring stitches.
In late 2024, country star Zach Bryan had to stop a show at the Tacoma Dome after an item was tossed onstage and struck one of his on-stage guests, addressing the crowd directly to demand the perpetrator be identified.
Artists across genres — including Harry Styles, Kelsea Ballerini, Cardi B and Drake — have all dealt with similar incidents in recent years.
Green is one of country music’s most consistent performers on the charts and at radio. His third studio album Don’t Mind If I Do delivered his first solo Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 with “Worst Way” in mid-2025. He also won Single of the Year at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards for his collaboration with Ella Langley, “You Look Like You Love Me.”
Green recently released Don’t Mind If I Do (Deluxe), adding six new tracks to the project, and heads into a packed North American leg of the Cowboy As It Gets Tour beginning in April.
