10 Rock Stars That Almost Died On The Road
9. Bill Berry - R.E.M.
It's staggering to think of how normal REM were when put up against the rest of their contemporaries in the '80s. While they may have just been your average indie band back in the day, they never changed when their star started to rise either, always making the same kind of artsy pop rock as the age of grunge adopted them as one of their godfathers. Being in a rock band for that long can take its toll on you, and all the lights seemed to go out for Bill Berry when they went out on tour in the mid '90s.
After running through the soundcheck without a hitch, the band took the stage in Switzerland, only to barely make it halfway through the set when Bill started to feel faint and completely collapsed during one of the songs. Because of the way the lighting rig was set up, the constant rays of light caused him to suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm onstage, leaving the show canceled and Bill getting immediate medical attention.
Then again, this tour seemed to be doomed from the start most of the time, considering this was also around the time that Peter Buck would get arrested coming off of a plane after behaving erratically and Michael Stipe getting sick halfway through the tour as well. Bill would soon retire from REM altogether, but it would be much better to have him with us than having to risk his health every time he took to the stage.