Bizarre Encounters Musicians Actually Had With Fans

Fame comes at a price. It often means the loss of privacy, or the constant scrutiny of being put under the microscope by the media; whichever way, it isn't always smooth sailing for celebrities. Spare a thought for the musicians with really overzealous fans, though. Now, this isn't about the supporters who start dedicated zines or decorate their rooms with all kinds of posters and memorabilia. No, it's about the fans who partake in bizarre behavior that leaves everyone weirded out by how far they went.

From someone trying to hand over their baby to their favorite singer to another fan breaking into a musician's home and relieving themselves in the bathroom, there have been instances when devotees haven't just crossed the line, they have danced all the way over and made everyone cringe. This isn't acceptable behavior that you would engage in with anyone you know, so why do it with strangers, even if they are famous?

Of course, there have also been times when musicians majorly crossed the line with fans at concerts, so not all of them are innocent here either. That being said, let's look at the specific incidents in which supporters gave fandom a bad name — or at the very least had everyone else shaking their heads in disbelief about the peculiar behaviors.

It's not unusual for fans to try and meet their heroes at concerts. Sometimes, those meet-and-greet sessions are a little pricey, so you need to get creative to say hello. However, one should never do what a certain person did at an Alice Cooper show.

Speaking to Rolling Stone about his most bizarre encounter with a fan, Cooper discussed a gig in the Midwest in which he received news that his wife had collapsed backstage before he was due to perform. The worried musician rushed to the back to find a woman — who wasn't his wife — receiving oxygen. What's even worse is that she greeted him as if she were his partner. This wasn't the strangest part of the incident, though, as she introduced herself as Amy Lee from the band Evanescence. Then, a man who was presumably her father appeared and played along with the charade, but Cooper knew very well this wasn't his wife, nor Amy Lee, he was speaking to. Nonetheless, he continued the conversation, as the woman asked to meet Johnny Depp, to which Cooper told her she should go to Depp's show because he wasn't there with Cooper.

"Then she got up and walked away with her father, and I had to go on stage that night knowing I wasn't the most bizarre person in the building," Cooper said. "I sometimes wake up at three in the morning thinking, 'What was that?'"

The Jonas Brothers were never one of the most influential rock bands of the 2000s, although they had fans. Lots of fans. Even when the brothers went their separate ways, they remained popular in their own right. Joe Jonas, for example, continued to perform and attract large audiences as a solo musician.

In 2024, Jonas appeared on SiriusXM's BPM (via Popstar!) to talk about his latest music and career. The musician explained how he experienced a number of wild encounters with fans in the past, but there's one event that took place in Chile that stuck with him more than most. "I walked into my hotel room, and the curtain moved," Jonas said. "I sat on the couch; it had been a long travel day. I was like, 'Huh, maybe it's air conditioning.'"

As it turns out, it wasn't air conditioning at all, but a fan who had been hiding behind the curtain and waiting for his arrival. She dashed toward Jonas, who was surprised by her unexpected appearance. However, before she could get too close to him, Jonas' personal security, Big Rob, removed her from the room. Jonas didn't know how she got into the room, but he presumed that she must have known someone who worked at the hotel, and that is how she snuck in without anyone seeing her.

As one of the most important rock bands of the 1990s, Rage Against the Machine electrified with their politically charged songs and energetic concerts. Yes, people mosh, headbang, and get rowdy in these types of settings, but guitarist Tom Morello couldn't hold his laughter because of one fan's eccentric behavior at a past gig.

In a conversation with Rolling Stone, Morello recalled a specific Rage Against the Machine concert that took place in Moscow, Russia, in 1996. He explained how at their shows the attendees would often climb up on stage to rock out and then be escorted back down. However, there was one concert goer who took the band's song "Bulls on Parade" — from the 1996 album "Evil Empire" — a little too literally.

"One young man was wearing cowboy boots, super tight white underpants and nothing else," Morello said. "And he proceeded to charge back and forth on the stage with his fingers like bull horns." Watching this unfold proved humorous to Morello and his guitar tech, who couldn't help but chuckle and get lost in the moment of this excited fan in action.

It's safe to say that Brendon Urie was Panic! At the Disco. While other musicians played in the band, it was Urie's distinct voice and musicianship that made the outfit stand out. One of the group's most famous songs was "Death of the Bachelor," which is the title track off the 2016 album of the same name. It also became a popular number at concerts, as Urie would embark on a "death walk" down the stage, where he would personally interact with fans as he sang the song.

Yet, a few people crossed the line of acceptable interaction. It got to the point that the band's tour manager, Zack Hall, posted a message on X, warning concert attendees that Urie would stop doing the "death walk" if they proceeded to be "creepy" toward the musician. Some of the reported behavior included people licking and kissing Urie.

The musician himself addressed the incidents during a Twitch stream (via Alternative Press), asking his fans to respect personal boundaries and not be weird. "I'm not very comfortable with that — with you guys kissing without my permission," he said. "It's just strange. I'm not really into it. I appreciate that you're wanting to connect and reach out in that way and interact, but please stop kissing my hand when I come through the 'death walk.'"

Unquestionably, Dolly Parton is a bona fide country music icon. For decades, she has had legions of fans who adore her music and easygoing personality. However, Parton revealed that one supporter went way too far in the '70s after her track "Jolene" skyrocketed her to mainstream celebrity.

In a conversation with the Windy City Times in 2011, Parton discussed a "freaky" incident that stuck with her as the most unsettling fan encounter of her career. "We came home one day and there was a baby in a box at our gate with a note in it," she said. "The note said, 'My name is Jolene, my momma has left me here and she wants you to have me.' Of course, we all freaked out!"

Parton explained how she called the authorities immediately to come and collect the baby. What happened afterward remains a mystery to Parton, who didn't want to get involved in any potential police investigations, but she was still caught off guard by the entire event. "There are some loony people in this world," she added.

Sometimes, bizarre encounters musicians have with their fans appear totally random and out of the blue, but could lead to further danger. Take Sam Smith's experience as a classic example. Appearing on "The Drew Barrymore Show," the singer discussed the strangest encounter they had with a supporter in the past.

"It was very odd," Smith said. "It was outside of a venue, and they gave me a saucepan. And inside the frying pan was an envelope, and inside the envelope was a mobile phone. And then on the letter, it just said, 'Meet me in the library tomorrow.'"

Barrymore asked Smith if they went to the library to meet the fan the next day. Smith said no, but that they were still curious to know what awaited them at the library. In retrospect, though, Smith made the right decision to not meet up with a stranger, because who knows what could have happened to them afterward.

Oh, there are times when Slipknot went too far. However, they're not the only guilty parties here, as their own fans have grossed out people, too. There are numerous tales of Slipknot's fanbase — affectionately known as the Maggots — proving their undying devotion to the Iowan metal machine in unconventional ways, but there's one incident that will turn almost anyone's stomach.

It's a well-documented story of how Slipknot used to carry around a dead bird in a jar in their early years. According to the band, they would open the jar to experience the pungent scent, get into the mindset for a chaotic performance, and throw up in the process as some kind of warped pre-show ritual. As Slipknot's Sid Wilson told Spin, though, the band's fans decided to outdo the group's antics on a particular occasion.

"They were saying, 'Let us smell it,'" Wilson said. "So we put the jar down there and they start pulling out this stuff and eating it! I think it was more disturbing for us. The kids were sicker than we were."

Selena Gomez has been in the limelight from an early age, though that didn't stop her from having uncomfortable experiences with fans before she was even an adult. In fact, in a 2009 interview with Dose to promote the Disney film "Princess Protection Program," which she starred in alongside Demi Lovato, the then-teenage Gomez discussed an incident that was both weird and humorous to her.

Gomez explained how she and a friend went to an empty movie theater one day. All of a sudden, a young child ran into the theater and told her that he needed to give her something from his brother. The boy attempted to kiss her, but Gomez avoided his advances. When Gomez asked him why he tried to do that, the child reportedly responded, "Well, I'm just a fan."

Gomez added, "That was probably the weirdest [experience]. It was sweet because he was only 11, but I was, like, 'Well, okay. You're very, very forward for an 11-year-old.'"

Jared Leto can never say too much about eccentricity, since it's well known that he's a method actor who has gone to extreme lengths to get into character. After all, who could ever forget the "gifts" he sent to his "Suicide Squad" co-stars when he was playing the Joker? Despite this, there's no documented proof that Leto has ever sent a severed body part to a fellow actor or musician. The same can't be said about his fans, though.

In 2013, Leto told Xfm (via The Hollywood Reporter) about the weirdest gift he ever received from a fan: a human ear. "Someone cut their ear off once and sent it to me," he said. "That was very strange. A whole ear. The Van Gogh move. The note just said, 'Are you listening?' I never knew who it was, who's missing their ear out there."

Leto claimed he put the ear on a necklace and wore it, while he also posted a photo of the purported ear in a now-deleted Instagram post. However, there were people who questioned the authenticity of this pic (and the overall story), pointing out that it looked like a movie prop — not a real-life human ear.

It's normal that fans try to imitate the looks of their favorite musicians. Heck, Nelly had a whole generation wearing Band-Aids on their faces as a fashion statement. Yet, a line needs to be drawn in the sand at some point. It's okay to dress up like someone, but to intentionally injure yourself to be like them might be pushing it.

This is what happened to British singer Jessie J in 2012. In the year prior, Jessie broke her foot and had it in a cast, but a female fan didn't just sympathize with the musician's injury — she replicated it. According to The Sun, a teenage fan broke her own foot to mimic the same injury suffered by Jessie, then sent a photo to the singer to show how far they were willing to go to be like Jessie.

Reportedly, this wasn't the only disturbing behavior that the fan engaged in. A source close to Jessie admitted that the singer was worried for her own safety after receiving messages from her most extreme devotee. "Jessie's a really, really sensitive and kind girl who loves keeping in touch with her fans," the unnamed person said. "But this incident was just too much for her and she ended up getting really frightened and upset."

Steve Aoki understands how to turn his shows into memorable events. Apart from pumping the infectious tunes to the delight of the crowd, the DJ is well known for the art of caking, where he chucks frosty treats into the faces of his fans as part of the celebrations.

Despite his close connection to his fanbase, Aoki isn't immune to bizarre encounters. Now, his story doesn't involve something nefarious or unsettling — it's plain odd in the same way that someone would squint their eyes if they witnessed someone hanging onto the wing of an airplane as it took off.

Chatting to Rolling Stone, Aoki recounted a fan moment he may have never planned for. "In 2012, on the Deadmeat tour," Aoki said, "there was a fan at one of my shows who climbed up on the roof and hung upside down just to get close enough to give me a high five in my DJ booth that was 20 feet above the ground." Hopefully, the person managed to climb down safely — and without further incident — because no one would want the Aoki gig to become another one of the concerts that devolved into chaos and tragedy.

At Diddy's 2025 trial, Kid Cudi claimed that in 2011, Diddy broke into his house, unwrapped his Christmas presents, and locked his dog in the bathroom. Resultantly, it's understandable that the musician didn't find the funny side when a fan broke into his home in 2025 and the internet laughed about it — since this wouldn't have been the first time someone invaded the sanctity of his home.

Posting on Instagram Stories and now-deleted X posts (via Billboard), Cudi claimed that a 34-year-old man had been stalking him for years in an attempt to collaborate with him. Reportedly, this culminated with the man breaking into Cudi's Los Angeles home, going through his personal belongings, eating his food, and using his shower and bathroom. The man was eventually arrested by the police and charged.

"There is nothing funny about this," Cudi wrote. "My privacy was violated, and now I have to protect myself. I don't feel safe now."