4 Musicians Who Battled Extreme Weather — And Made Music History

A working musician has a lot to contend with. There are songs to write, albums to record, events to attend, and, of course, the intense demands of touring. Then, there's the weather. You might think that's the purview of meteorology nerds or people desperately trying to make small talk, but plenty of musicians have found themselves in a hard fight with Mother Nature. That storm system moving in cares not a whit about someone's platinum records, and the rain will fall just as hard on Mick Jagger as it does on a nobody up in the nosebleed seats, leaving both equally bedraggled. But there are some exceptions. In a few notable cases, even extreme weather wasn't enough to stop some of the greatest and most determined rockers, who took their bad turn with the forecast and spun it into something legendary.

After all, rock is often about defying the system, and what could be more mythical than thumbing one's nose at hurricane-force winds and notoriously inaccurate weather forecasts? Sometimes, the legendary part comes in when terrible weather ironically helps a band finally make it big, or shows that an established rocker still very much has what it takes even in the face of lightning and electrical blackouts. Of course, we're not at all advocating for foolishness — neither you nor Bono should go scampering out into an electrical storm (though perhaps flash flood warnings are less scary when you're on a stage well above ground level). But for those musicians and their fans who were caught in rough weather anyway, the deluge could mean they'll all experience something legendary, as these very rockers did in their time.

Technically, U2 had already visited Red Rocks, the now-legendary outdoor venue just outside Denver, while scoping out the spot with a local promoter in 1981. Yet, they wouldn't book it until 1983, while touring to support their third album, "War." As lead singer Bono later told the Rocky Mountain News, "It was the first tour we might have made some money" (via U2Achtung). So, the time seemed ripe for them to finance a concert film. Then, the rain came.

The day of the show, temperatures fell while it rained steadily, growing even worse as flash flood warnings rolled in. But, looking at their bank accounts, the show had to go on. "We had to explain to [promoter Barry Fey] there was no way we could afford for it NOT to take place," Bono told the Rocky Mountain News. Bono called in to local radio stations, confirming that the show at Red Rocks was definitely still on. Some 4,400 fans showed up; Bono even served coffee and tea to the early birds shivering in the rain. Audience members were encouraged to get close to the stage, helping film editors later make the half-full venue appear packed.

The resulting film and album, "Under a Blood Red Sky," not only went triple platinum, but showcased a supremely cool-looking concert. The perpetual rain created an eerie mist, made all the more otherworldly by bonfires around the stage. And, of course, there's the youthful energy of early U2, made all the more wild and compelling by the dramatic weather that proved not to be an enemy, but a force that propelled the show to greater heights.

Okay, playing the notoriously mysterious "Purple Rain" in the literal rain sounds like a cliché too painful to consider, but it turns out that Prince did just that and made it look awesome. The venue? Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. The event? Oh, a little thing called Super Bowl XLI, held in February 2007. Florida's climate can actually be quite nice early in the year, but that day, the Sunshine State was not living up to its nickname. Producers were forced to call Prince with the bad news that storms threatened the halftime show but, upon hearing of the poor forecast, he replied: "Can you make it rain harder?" (via CBS News). Just another reason there will never be another musician like Prince.

Watching the concert footage, you can see that the weather duly cooperated with His Royal Badness. It was indeed rainy, and windy, to boot. In fact, some in attendance admitted that they had a hard time appreciating the performance amidst all the weather-related bluster. But to practically everyone else, this halftime show was a triumph. Prince was, y'know, Prince, complete with a very sensual stage presence and killer guitar solos, but his artistic vision was never going to include just lazily playing his hits. Besides delivering his own work with legendary cool and artistic ability, he also covered other artists, with a setlist that included transformative takes on Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" and the Foo Fighters' "Best of You," among others. The result went down as one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows of all time.

When the Rolling Stones visited Dallas in 1981, it wasn't their first time in the city, which they'd been touring through since late 1969. But their Halloween performance in '81 at the city's Cotton Bowl might have been among their most memorable shows in Texas. The two-night stay ending on November 1 was meant to cap their U.S. tour that year, with a crowd that night numbering around 80,000 and their longest-charting single still fresh on the Billboard Hot 100. Plus, there were rumors that this might be a farewell tour (though, given that the band has toured into the 2020s, those tales didn't exactly bear out). So, who wouldn't want to see them, even if terrible weather broke out?

Said weather really was awful, though at least reports suggested that the crowd was fairly well-behaved ... for a Rolling Stones concert, anyway. But while rain might dampen someone's party-hearty attitude elsewhere, the band kept playing at the Cotton Bowl. Even decades later, attendees wrote glowingly of the fun they had that night, even if they were soaked. One commenter on Reddit wrote, "I was there. Mick slipped and fell on stage. Got up [and] kept going. Didn't miss a beat." Indeed, Jagger seemed pretty on the level despite performing in what sounds like miserable conditions, cheekily telling fans mid-set that "We're all getting wet. My mascara is running" (via YouTube). The payoff was a concert that lives on in fan memory decades later.

By 1997, the H.O.R.D.E. festival (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere) was touring the U.S. while featuring Neil Young and his band, Crazy Horse. If any younger attendees were skeptical about Young's cred, they may have been convinced by one particular deluged performance. That August, H.O.R.D.E. descended upon Chicago's World Music Theatre. Towards the end of the evening, Young and Crazy Horse took to the stage, but as they played through their set, a thunderous storm broke out. A partial roof over the stage offered the hope of shelter, but the rain began blowing every which way it pleased — including right onto the stage.

Then, the power cut out in the middle of Young's guitar solo, leaving everyone in the dark until ersatz lighting was improvised. But Young just kept on playing as stagehands scrambled to find a solution to the faltering sound system. Of course, the band played "Like a Hurricane" while the storm intensified.

The theater even began to flood, but that still didn't stop the music. Towards the end of the set, Young even spontaneously included "Down by the River" and "Powderfinger" (true Neil Young fans will appreciate that last one). Those who were there still speak of the intensity of the performance. "I saw Neil Young battle a lightning storm at HORDE," wrote one Redditor. "I was standing knee deep in water. Most of the crowd was running like rats fleeing a sinking ship. The venue shut down the main sound, but he kept playing Like a Hurricane. It was epic."