10 Rock Musicians Who Almost Died On Tour

The Beatles' are probably the poster children for what constitutes a non threatening rock star. Whereas the Rolling Stones may have brought some menace into the British Invasion of rock and roll, the Fab Four were always fairly clean in the public eye, being the adulation for many teenage girls in their day. Once John Lennon talked religious though, things started to get really dangerous whenever they took to the road.

By the mid '60s, the Beatles' touring schedule was already hectic given the massive amount of female fans trying to grab a piece of them whenever they could. However, things started to change after Lennon made a comment to a journalist that the Fabs were more popular than Jesus. Going into the American South during the tour, Lennon was often met with death threats and was even outwardly threatened by the KKK before taking to the stage in Alabama.

This culminated in one specific gig when someone threw off a fire cracker midway through the set, prompting every one of the Beatles to look around to make sure none of them had been shot. Though Lennon eventually apologized, this was the final straw of their touring life, as the group played their final gig in 1966 before becoming an in-studio act shortly afterwards. While rock might live on its rigorous touring life, the Beatles may have been the one band who was too big for the rest of the world to handle.