Karaoke Forums

Me either, but last night scared me.

One of my regulars at my Tues night show is a very heavy set young man. Normally weighs over 300lbs and is only 5'5" tall. He's been dieting a lot recently and has gotten his weight down to around 260 now. He's usually a very aggressive singer who sings very hard and dances all over the stage. Last night he was doing his usual "showing out" when all of a sudden, he just stopped singing.

Then he turned around and looked at me. It was a pretty scary look. He said to me, "Hey, I think I am losing my voice." About 15 secs goes by and he starts singing again. Seconds later, he turns around to me again and says, "My chest is hurting. I can't breathe."

Omg!!! That scared the crap outta me! Then he goes down on one knee and starts taking off his clothes. I am thinking he's having a heart attack or something. Another regular rushes up to help him. Then a few more come up and they help him back to his seat. Well, thankfully he didn't die, but man that was scary. Imagine if he would have died during his performance?

Has anything like this ever happened to any of you guys before?

Back in 2002, a friend of mine died just as we were getting ready to go home from a Karaoke show. We had approached my car and as I opened the door for her, she said that she suddenly didn't feel very well, and then collapsed right there in front of me. A call to 911 was made, and an Ambulance arrived quickly. They tried to revive her, and then brought her to a local Hospital. The Doctors worked on her for 45 minutes before pronouncing her dead. I won't get into the lengthy details of everything that occurred, but needless to say, I was a Basket Case.

The one thing that her Family told me, was not to blame myself for what happened, and that I had fulfilled her dying wish... to die going out to Karaoke and having a good time amongst friends.

Nope. Nothing close.

I could as the average age at my shows is 68 or so. Maybe just me when I don't know a song vary well.

I've had a couple close calls where ambulances needed to be called and the person was taken, but didn't die. I know SEVERAL that have died shortly after a show - 1 of a drive by shooting while he was sitting in his apartment with a few others that just left our show. If I was feeling better that night, I would've been there as well as we all did after hour parties alot back then rotating from house to house.

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We had to call an ambulance when a singer collapsed at the mic. We found out later he'd overdosed on prescription meds and liquor. But, he was back next week with a smile (even got a few drinks from regulars).

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Karaoke should be a selfish pleasure.
Check out my Facebook page "Griff's Karaoke Adventures" to see how many tunes I can do without repeating!

The old KJ that trained me was standing behind his booth one night. When myself and another patron looked at him, he froze up, and literally tipped over sideways like a tree being cut down. We thought he was screwing around back there, but when he didn't get up, we both ran back there and found him sweating profusely and white as a sheet.

He got up, said he was ok, and continued running his show, even after I offered to take over. Not even the persistence of the patrons would sway him. Said he was exhausted and had the flu...

Thanks guys for all your stories. Enjoyed reading them.

I've had a couple of people almost fall down from one too many drinks. But nothing more serious than that.

I had one gentleman commit suicide right outside the door from the bar,,, He was sitting at the bar most of the night, buying drinks for everyone and telling people of his plans to "end it all",, but nobody payed any attention to him, because he wasn't a well liked person. About 10 oclock he got up from his barstool, walked out to his car, and shot himself in the chest. Our waitress, at the time, was outside and witnessed the entire thing, but she was too late to stop him. Sad situation for sure.

I have lost two regulars to heart attacks at the shows , neither were singing at the time but fell off their chair collapsed and died. I guess after 25 years it can be expected but it still freaks you out and you can't "fix" it.

Yes! About 15 years ago: Birthday party/family reunion. Big event, ballroom, 300 capacity room, close friends & relatives from all over the states in attendance. Celebrating a birthday at 85 yrs old he looks fit & in good spirits doing the rounds engaging in small talks from table to table. Unbeknownst to him the family had planned a big surprise for him. They arranged for his younger sister to attend & for her to make amends. I found out later that they had a falling-out & hasn’t spoken in 8 years.

Dinner time, the sister enters the ballroom, he stood up running & met her halfway, both were crying, they hugged, relatives were crying, everyone applauding. I was standing by my dj rig & both were no more than 7 ft away. Suddenly his knees buckled & crumpled down to the floor. His whole body shook & with one last grasp of air he was gone. His brother unsuccessfully performed cpr, paramedics came & tried to revive him but to no avail. Party was over right there. I was overwhelmed by what has transpired took me a while to tear down my set-up. Truly sad!

His daughter paid the full amount a week prior to the gig. I felt bad I wrote a check for half the amount & mailed it to her. She returned the check back with a thank you note – “unfortunate circumstance but contract remains unchanged”.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Last Friday night, we had a good scare. There was a heavy set woman at the bar, sitting in a bar stool. She had had one beer. There is a story that she took a couple hits off a joint, but that is unconfirmed. Myself, and a friend of mine were singing Patience, when the bartender started yelling to turn off the music. I was confused, then I saw the woman on the floor. Turned off the music went over to her.

The girl I was singing with is in the medical profession, and is another friend of mine who was there. Neither one of them could find a pulse, plus she was getting ashen, and she had wet herself. I even tried to find a pulse, (having my own heart issues, I am quite able to find pulse points, and know if a person is in sinus rhythm or not.).

911 was called, and on their way. The girls were about to administer CPR, when the woman started breathing, and woke up like nothing happened. They got her back in the bar stool. When the Paramedics came they checked her out, and she refused to go with them. I can't imagine her going home, laying on her back, in bed, and living through it. She hasn't been back yet. Who knows..

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

When a regular died from a heart attack, her husband had me set up at her wake and play karaoke songs she had recorded. While she didn't die at my show, I KJ'd her final performance.

I did have a situation where one of my regulars was at the show and he lived in the apartments across the street. I was singing and all of a sudden the entire bar cleared out. There was a fire in that regulars apartment across the street and the guy's dad died in the fire. One of the guys that used to work for me got in and got the guy out and tried to revive him but it was too late. We went around to all the apartments knocking on doors and getting people out. The bar became something of a triage unit with people suffering from smoke related issues and not having much on from being in bed and getting out fast.

That situation prompted the guy that worked for me to become an EMS responder and that is what he does today.

So I guess I did have something close after all..

No one ever died when I was at karaoke. But my elderly friend Mikki did have a nasty spill and after they had stabilized her in a sitting positition, she told them to turn the music back on so she could finish her song while they were waiting for the paramedics.



-James

I had a 60+ (my age now) lady that slipped getting up on an 18 inch high stage. She didn't appear to have slipped badly enough to hurt herself and she got back up and took a second try and made onto the stage. While she was singing you could see a big change in her facial expression as the song progressed to the end. Just as she hit the final note she passed out on the stage and we had to have an ambulance take out off the stage. We later found out that she had broken her fibula. She came back the next and sang with a cast on her leg. No would ever guessed that she had broken her leg. Heart attack, brain aneurism or stroke, but not a broken leg.

Anytime a person like the guy who is 300 lbs and drops too much weight too fast can send his body out of sync. As weird as it might seem altering your normal body balance too quickly increases the chance of having problems internally. That is why weight loss should be gradual 1 to 2 lbs per week and with diet increasing gradually exercise. Everything has to be in balance. The reason I retired is because I had a scare on stage while doing a show this Spring. My doctor recommended to reduce my work load and eventually stop working nights altogether. Retiring has really helped the stress level, and I'm sleeping much better. Without your health you have nothing so always take care of yourself, no gig is worth a trip to the hospital. Merry Christmas to all.

Not at a Karaoke show but I did cross examine a guy to death one time. He didn't actually die on the stand. He made it out of the building and collapsed in the parking lot.

Back in 1999, We had a guy, in his mid 50's or so, just pass out at the bar and fall off his bar stool. he was a known diabetic, drank like a fish, and ate all the wrong things (Burgers, Milk Shakes, Etc).

we almost lost him that night. he was a regular singer and a nice fella. we didn't see him for almost a month after that.

Kinda freaked everyone out that night.

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website