Dave Mustaine blames 'spoiled brat' artists for spate of audience missile incidents

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has spoken about the seemingly growing phenomenon of audience members throwing things at performers when they play live.

There have been a number of high-profile cases in the pop world recently, with the likes of Harry Styles, Drake and Cardi B all having objects thrown at them.

Singer Bebe Rexha fell to the floor after being hit in the face with a mobile phone in June and had to be treated in hospital – with the man who threw it later charged with assault.

Speaking on Sweden’s SVT, Mustaine said: "If people don't like you, they're gonna throw s---

"Maybe it's graduated from rotten tomatoes to dildos; I don't know. But if you're giving them a great show, they're not gonna do that — they're not gonna do that.

“So don't get up there acting like a spoiled f---ing brat and telling them not to throw stuff."

Watch: Megadeth - 'Killing Time'

He added: "I don't have to worry about it. Plus my eyesight is that bad, I probably won't see anything flying through the air until it's too late."

The rock and metal world has certainly seen its share of objects hurled at the stage.

An infamous Alice Cooper show in 1969 saw someone throw a live chicken onstage which, legend has it, ultimately ended up being torn apart by the crowd.

In the 80s, Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a live bat that he believed was a rubber toy thrown at him onstage.

Cradle Of Filth guitarist Paul Allender was hospitalised after being hit by a large piece of hard candy at Bloodstock Festival in 2009 and the Reading Festival has been notorious for ‘bottling’ incidents, with everyone from Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler to My Chemical Romance and Daphne and Celeste facing a deluge of missiles.

Watch: My Chemical Romance live at Reading Festival, 2006

At a Motorhead concert in the former Yugoslavia in the late 80s, late frotman Lemmy was hit by a razor blade glued between two coins.

He later said on the Bailey Brothers TV show: "I nearly lost my hand, you understand me? If I lose my hand, my life is over. You realize that? I'd have to shoot myself because I can't stand it.

"I'm not going to put up with people throwing things out of the audience any more… This is never going to happen to me again."

Gallery: Megadeth and more at Download 2022

Listen to Planet Rock on DAB nationwide, on our Rayo app, online or via your smart speaker (“Play Planet Rock”).

• Megadeth
• Dave Mustaine