5 Brutal On-Set Injuries Musicians Suffered When Filming Music Videos

When it comes to dangerous professions, we may not think of our favorite musical entertainers as facing any particular risk, at least not as a result of the work itself — the hazards of a sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll lifestyle are another matter. So, when we hear about musicians being seriously injured while making a music video, it may come as a surprise. However, as this group of musicians has shown, filming a music video is not without its peril. From singers doing their own stunts to wardrobe missteps, those high-impact visuals can sometimes come at a painful cost. In fact, these five well-known performers are among those who have experienced serious, sometimes life-threatening, on-set injuries while in front of a camera. (While you're here, you might also be interested in perusing our list of actors who have been seriously injured while filming.)

According to USA Today, things took a treacherous turn for Mariah Carey in July 2013 when she was filming a remix video for "Beautiful." After the songstress stumbled over her high heels, she ended up being rushed to the emergency room with a dislocated shoulder and ribs, as well as nerve damage. She said at the time that she downplayed the extent of the damage, tweeting out a photo of herself in a "fashionable sling" to her Twitter followers. Carey then went on to make the best of the situation by wearing a series of slings to match her outfits. She eventually reported that she was on the mend, "but you can't really rush it," she said. "It is what it is."

In 2025, Sabrina Carpenter revealed on an episode of "Late Night With Seth Meyers" (via ABC33/40 News) that she experienced a rather unexpected injury while filming the video for "Manchild": "I fell on a cactus," she confessed. Carpenter added, "It's so easy to laugh when people get hurt. And I did. But then I started crying. There was a medic. I, just for the rest of the day was picking s*** out of..." However, despite the difficulty of the situation, the singer said, "I'm so grateful to be able to make that production of my dreams. But it was definitely... We endured a lot of pain to get the finished product."

Ozzy Osbourne faced numerous health challenges throughout his life, including an injury back in 1984 that could very well have ended his singing career. According to UPI, while filming a video for "So Tired," the legendary rocker received cuts from shattered mirror glass that flew into his face. The incident, which Osbourne's publicist called a "freak accident," left the singer with cuts to his face and throat. However, he was fortunate that there was no damage to his vocal cords, and he didn't even realize he had been injured until he was on a flight headed from London back to New York. After being hospitalized, Osbourne recovered and went on to have a long career until his death from a heart attack in July 2025.

While shooting the video for "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart," Chris Cornell, lead singer for the band Soundgarden, suffered second-degree burns during a stunt gone wrong. The stunt, which involved "a liquid chemical singeing a noose tied around his neck" during a mock hanging, kept hitting snags, leading them to have to repeat the dangerous feat. Eventually, this led to the chemicals rubbing off on his neck and burning his skin, per reporting from TMZ.

Musician Beck experienced an injury in 2005 that he later shared could have sounded a death knell for his career. While filming the video for "E-Pro," the star "was in a harness inside this moving wheel, being hit with sticks," according to his drummer, Joey Waronker. "In the footage, it looked like he was floating around. Somehow, he got seriously hurt." Beck himself noted how life-altering the injury was: "I stopped touring indefinitely, and I didn't know if I ever would again," he explained. "I wasn't able to use my guitar and voice in the same way. It altered my life for a long time" (via Rolling Stone). However, the magazine wrote that, by 2012, the artist seemed "more like his old self," releasing his first album in six years with "Morning Phase."