LUKE BRYAN CLARIFIES CAUSE OF CONCERT FALL: 'I DON'T THINK IT WAS A CELLPHONE'

Luke Bryan is going viral for his onstage tumble.

The "Country Girl" singer appeared to trip on a fan's cellphone that made its way to the stage floor at the Coast City Country Festival in Vancouver on Saturday.

Bryan, 47, laughed off his fall after landing on his back, videos shared on social media show.

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Holding up the cellphone onstage, the country singer asked the crowd, "Did anybody get that?" Bryan then tossed the phone back to the presumed owner, telling him, "It's OK," before jokingly adding, "My lawyer will be calling."

The country singer then grabbed another fan's phone from the audience that taped his fall and presented the video on the screens.

"There I am, there we go, jumping, jumping, hyping the crowd … There it is," he said as he replayed the moment in real-time.

"Hey, I need some(thing) viral. This is viral," Bryan joked, before telling the fan to caption the video with a hashtag of his song "Love You, Miss You, Mean It."

Luke Bryan says he exaggerated role of cellphone in onstage fall

During a red-carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight Monday, Bryan cleared the air about the culprit behind his recent fall onstage.

"Everybody is reporting (about the) cellphone, but I was kind of hamming that up," Bryan told ET's Denny Directo. "I don't think it was a cellphone. I think it was just slick."

Bryan then joked that he needed to capitalize on the buzz of the incident.

"I need viral moments, you know? I need viral moments!" Bryan said. "My new single is 'Love You, Miss You, Mean It.' Now I've got to get the bumper sticker made — 'I busted my (butt), and this is my new single.' "

Luke Bryan talks 'paying it forward' with younger artists

Bryan, who is in the midst of his Mind of a Country Boy tour, told the Nashville Tennessean earlier this month that "gaining the eyeballs to make people take notice of your artistry" is much more difficult these days.

The struggle to kick off your career and maintain it is why he's enlisted other young country artists to open for him on tour.

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"I'm nurturing where younger artists are at in the infancy of their careers and helping them navigate the anticipation of watching a single go up the charts," Bryan said, reminiscing of when he was an opener for Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw almost 20 years ago.

"Paying it forward is pretty special stuff," the "Crash My Party" singer said. "Diving in there and getting artists ready to hopefully mirror the type of success I've had as classy and savvy artists with integrity is important."

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Bryan added that he "wasn't a naturally gifted performer" and had to be open to flexibility.

"Because of that focus, I've been able to avoid un-inventing and reinventing (my art and brand). I still feel as inspired and relevant to everything happening at all levels of the music industry as I've ever been," he said.

Contributing: Marcus K. Dowling, Nashville Tennessean; Edward Segarra, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luke Bryan clarifies cause of concert fall: 'I don't think it was a cellphone'

2024-04-22T14:27:59Z dg43tfdfdgfd