Drake Pauses Apollo Theater Concert After Man Falls From Balcony
Drake‘s Sunday night show at the Apollo Theater was momentarily put on pause after a man fell from the lower mezzanine balcony into the audience.
“Just gotta make sure somebody’s OK,” the OVO rapper said after a crew member ran onstage to inform him of the fall.
The incident occurred about 90 minutes into the show, just as 21 Savage walked out to perform “Rich Flex” and a slew of other Her Loss hits alongside Drake. The pause lasted about 15 minutes as venue staff treated the injured man.
“Unfortunately, last evening an incident occurred with an audience member who landed in the orchestra from the lower mezzanine,” the venue said in a statement posted to Instagram on Monday (Jan. 23). “Drake, Apollo and SiriusXM halted the show immediately when learning of a potential fan injury and standard protocols were taken. They were seen immediately by EMS on site. The fan and other audience members reported that they were OK. No major injuries have been reported. The Apollo is investigating the situation further.”
In partnership with SiriusXM, Drake announced the concert as a one-night only event last fall. It was originally meant to take place Nov. 11 but was moved to early December to mourn Takeoff, whose shooting death occurred a little over a week prior. The show was then delayed again to January due to production issues, and a second show was added.
The two-night event attracted an A-list crowd, including Justin and Hailey Bieber, Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr., Aaron Judge, A$AP Ferg and more, as Drake performed a mix of his biggest hits and deep cuts spanning his catalog. The Toronto native also brought out Dipset and Lil Uzi Vert as special guests, and hinted at a possible tour with 21 this summer.
Cydney Lee
Billboard