Riley Green Needed 5 Stitches After Fan Threw a Phone at Him During Melbourne Concert
Country singer Riley Green was struck in the face by a cell phone thrown from the crowd during a sold-out concert in Melbourne, Australia, leaving him bloodied and in need of five stitches — but he never stopped performing.
The 37-year-old was playing his second sold-out night at Margaret Court Arena on March 14, part of the Australian leg of his Cowboy As It Gets Tour, when a phone came flying out of the crowd and hit him in the side of the face.
Green had a guitar in his hand and was about to speak into the microphone when the object struck him.
The moment was captured on camera by a concertgoer and shared in a TikTok video that quickly drew attention online. In the footage, Green can be seen shaking off the impact before taking command of the situation, telling his crew to turn the lights up and directing security to remove the person responsible from the venue.
The crowd booed the fan who threw the phone.
As Green picked up his guitar to continue performing, it became clear the phone had done real damage. Blood was streaming down the side of his face from his ear. A crew member rushed up with a towel to wipe off the blood, but Green wasn’t about to leave the stage.
“Am I bleeding?” he said into the mic. “Y’all see how tough I am?!”
The show continued.
Five Stitches and Jokes Backstage
After the concert wrapped, Green took to social media to update fans. In an Instagram Story, he shared a photo of his stitched-up earlobe with a brief message.
“5 stitches later … sewed up,” he wrote.
In a separate Instagram Story, Green joked that he was considering passing out anti-theft phone chains at his next show to avoid another phone-throwing incident. The lighthearted response resonated with fans who had been concerned about the severity of the injury.
Green also posted a TikTok video showing himself receiving medical attention backstage. True to form, he spent most of the exchange cracking jokes with the medical staff rather than dwelling on the injury.
The backstage footage offered a closer look at how Green handled things after the show.
When a medic advised him that the cut would need stitches, Green suggested piercing the bandage up with a stud — or, alternatively, throwing some Elmer’s glue on it.
When the medic recommended he visit a nearby urgent care clinic to get the wound properly stitched up, Green asked if there was one with a casino in it.
Being struck by an object thrown from the audience is no small matter. The fact that it drew blood and required medical attention underscored how forceful the impact was.
Despite the injury, Green showed no signs of slowing down his Australian tour schedule.
He’s set to continue 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.
Both of his Melbourne shows at Margaret Court Arena were sold out, making the phone-throwing incident all the more unfortunate for the concertgoers who had come out for a memorable night of country music.
Part of a Broader Pattern
The incident involving Green is part of a broader pattern that has drawn concern across the live music industry. In recent years, concertgoers throwing objects — particularly cell phones — at performers onstage has become an increasingly visible issue at concerts and festivals around the world.
Artists across multiple genres have spoken publicly about objects being hurled at them during performances. A phone thrown with enough force can cause cuts, bruises, and in Green’s case, a wound that required five stitches.
For fans attending shows on the remaining dates of Green’s Cowboy As It Gets Tour, the singer’s joke about handing out anti-theft phone chains may have been delivered with a laugh — but the underlying message was clear.
Green didn’t leave the stage. He didn’t cancel the rest of the set. He got hit, bled, cracked a joke, and kept playing — then got his five stitches and started thinking about the next show.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
