10 Rock Musicians Who Almost Died On Tour

Over time, it gets pretty easy to guess some of the slip-ups that happen over the course of a tour. From people drinking too much before a show to people not having the right set-up for every single song, it can to be almost like a caricature of Spinal Tap at the worst of times. Then again, no one might have expected that combustion actually factor into the equation for Metallica.

At the start of the '90s, these thrash legends were riding high off the success of the Black Album when they pulled into Toronto for a stadium show. Co-headlining with Guns N Roses, James Hetfield started to play out the delicate chords of Fade to Black like he did on every other night, only to find himself standing over a canister that was designed to shoot up a chemical flame. Right as the song kicked in, Hetfield was lit up, with half of his body completely burned. Though Hetfield made a full recovery later, this did not bode well for the rest of the show, with the Toronto crowd rioting after Guns N Roses also cut their set short because of Axl Rose's vocal troubles.

Ever the road dog that he is though, Hetfield managed to keep the tour rolling with John Marshall brought in to play his guitar parts while his hand was still bandaged. For as big as Metallica has gotten, this is proof enough that they never take their fans for granted.