Aussie singer Shannon Noll has been forced to issue a grovelling apology after launching into an expletive-ridden outburst and threatening a fan on stage during a live gig.
The 42-year-old musician halted his show after someone in the audience threw a full beer can at him, narrowly missing his head as he performed at the Duck Creek Picnic Races in the regional NSW town of Nyngan.
The video, posted to Facebook by a fan, shows the former Australian Idol runner-up take the microphone to the front of the stage before pointing out into the crowd at who he believes threw the can.
“Whoever threw that, come up here,” he shouted at the crowd. “Come on then, that f***head in the tie. You’re a f***ing maggot. Have some f***ing balls to come up here … cheapshot p***k.”
As some of the crowd nervously laughed and others cheered, clearly thinking it was partly a joke, he went on: “Shame that motherf***er right there. F***ing private school stupid f***head motherf***er. Have some balls and get up here and I’ll punch your f***ing teeth down your throat … then I’ll f*** your missus and your mum.”
He then went on to calm down enough to launch into his rendition of Daryl Braithwaites’ classic song, ‘The Horses’.
Following major backlash, Noll has since apologised on Facebook, blaming his bizarre outburst on one of his band getting hurt last year when a firecracker was thrown on stage.
“I would like to apologise for my behaviour and language at Saturday night’s Duck Creek Picnic Races,” he wrote. “During our set there were people in the audience throwing cans and bottles at the stage and after one guy threw a full can, just missing my head it really rattled me.
“We had a similar issue last year with a firecracker thrown onto the stage and one of my band members was seriously hurt… you don’t have a lot of deep vision into the crowd from the stage and it’s pretty scary to see something suddenly flying straight at you. We’re just doing our job and these actions are not acceptable.
“I completely understand that that is still no excuse for the way I spoke and I am deeply sorry for the terrible things I said that were purely out of frustration.”