Gorillaz ended their set early last Saturday night at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark when collaborating artist Del the Funky Homosapien fell off the stage, Pitchfork reports. The group began playing the song, “Clint Eastwood,” when Del entered the stage to perform his verse, veered too far right and fell to the ground.
According to Rolling Stone, Gorillaz continued to play while Del was attended to by festival personnel. After it became apparent the rapper’s injuries would prevent him from continuing to perform, Damon Albarn ended the performance and told attendees, “Thank you so much for a beautiful, beautiful night. Unfortunately, we’ve had a… I don’t know yet.”
Virtual group Gorillaz released The Now Now June 29 and are currently touring in support of their new record. The North American leg of their tour begins October 8 in Toronto and ends October 20 at Demon Dayz LA.
After Del’s fall Saturday night, Roskilde organizers issued a statement, saying, “One of the [Gorillaz] artists, Del the Funky Homosapien, unfortunately fell from the stage during the last number of Gorillaz’ concert. He was seen on site by a doctor and went to the hospital for further investigation. He’s conscious and talking to his team. We hope he recovers quickly and wish him a speedy recovery.”
Del later assured fans he was on the mend by tweeting, “Thank you all for the love! I’m doing alright but will be in the hospital for a bit, the care here is outstanding though. Much love to @gorillaz for having me out and I’ll be back soon yall.”
Gorillaz are next scheduled to perform at the Gurtenfestival July 11 in Bern, Switzerland.
Thank you all for the love! I’m doing alright but will be in the hospital for a bit, the care here is outstanding though. Much love to @gorillaz for having me out and I’ll be back soon yall🤘🏾 pic.twitter.com/p383Mc2Qh5
— Del The Funky Homosapien (@DelHIERO) July 8, 2018
UPDATE (7/11): During an interview with Matt Wilkinson on Beats 1 on Apple Music, Damon Albarn spoke about Del the Funky Homosapien’s fall at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, saying, “Del is in hospital still in Roskilder. He’s got seven fractured ribs and he punctured his lung on one side, lacerated it on the other. He’s gonna be fine. It was just a stage fall, and I’ve fallen off stage several times, off stages way higher than that and I’ve been so fortunate.
“When he fell down, I was looking at him like, come on get up there’s 80,000 people out there and we need to finish. I though I was going to able to carry the song on. I though he was going to be okay. But he really wasn’t. He’s gonna be alright. Bless him. It’s an awful, awful thing that I can’t quite believe. I keep playing it through my head. He will get better, he’s gonna be fine.”
Listen to the audio below.