Luke Bryan responds after someone threw a ball at his face while on stage

While performing his final song of the night at the North Dakota State Fair on July 27, country music star Luke Bryan was struck in the face by an object.

While singing his hit song “Country Girl (Shake It for Me),” someone in the crowd threw a ball toward the stage, striking Bryan in the face mid song. Bryan was visibly thrown off by the incident, taking a minute as the crowd continued to sing the song for him.

Bryan then puts a smile on his face as he continued on with the song.

“It’s the last song of the night. It was a big ole fun party, and I think one person just took it too far,” he told Taste of Country Nights, addressing the incident for the first time. “We see it. Every other entertainer out there is getting stuff — you get stuff thrown at ya. You hope that you can see who did it,” he added.

Despite quickly shaking off the incident, Bryan said his reaction may have been different if he would have seen who threw the ball.

“I mean, if I saw him throw it, I could have gone right to him,” he said. “I probably would have jumped right off in there.”

Unfortunately, Bryan isn’t the first performer to have been hit with an object while on stage. Kelsea Ballerini, Billie Eilish and Bebe Rexha are just a few other performers who have experienced situations like Bryan’s.

Shortly after speaking out about the incident, Bryan also shared news about his future as a judge on American Idol.

“Last year was really really incredible with Carrie (Underwood) and Lionel (Richie) and Ryan (Seacrest),” Bryan told Taste of Country Nights, “and the main thing is just, have fun with “American Idol” and have fun with the kids (contestants).”

As for which of the judges will be returning for the next season of American Idol, Bryan says his “prediction would be highly favorable” for Underwood to return next season.

But as for his own return, Bryan says, “We’ll see what happens,” noting that the show takes it “year‑by‑year.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 2:44 PM.