Jimmy Buffett Falls Off Stage During a Concert in Sydney, Australia
Rushed to the emergency room with head injury
Jan. 26, 2011 — -- Singer Jimmy Buffett's representative expects him to be released Thursday from an Australian hospital, where he was rushed after falling off stage while performing Tuesday night.
Buffett, 64, fell into the first row at the end of the concert in Sydney, after singing the line, "It's been a lovely cruise, I'm sorry it's ended," during an encore, according to Australian newspaper the Daily Telegraph.
Buffett lay motionless for about eight minutes and was taken by ambulance to Sydney's St. Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst 30 minutes after the accident.
Buffett's tour manager, Michael Chugg, came onstage after the accident and asked fans to leave immediately, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Buffett is in stable condition, undergoing observation, a hospital representative told ABC News Radio.
Laurie Gorman, a representative from Buffett's label, Mailboat Records, told ABC News: "Jimmy had an accident while performing in Sydney and he was taken to the hospital. The doctors say he is doing well and will be released tomorrow [Thursday]."
Wednesday's concert was Buffett's last of three sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House and came in celebration of Australia Day.
"We were in the 10th row and it looked like he did a massive face plant after his encore and pretty much didn't get up ... we were told to leave the premises," audience member Dan Bateman told the newspaper.
"No one really wanted to leave because everyone was anxious to know if he survived the fall. Everyone was pretty horrified," Bateman added.
Another audience member told TMZ.com that it appeared as though Buffett was unconscious and had gashed his head.
Before this concert series, Buffett had not performed in Australia for two decades. The Daily Telegraph reported that during the show, the singer apologized to the crowd for not playing in the country for 20 years, and promised to return in 2012.
Buffett is scheduled to perform in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, and has additional concert dates booked in the United States starting April 16th. He is also lined up to perform in this spring's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Buffett's most recent album, Buffett Hotel, was released in 2009. In addition to his music career, his various business ventures include the Margaritaville and Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chains, the Land Shark Lager brand of beer and a line of Margaritaville-branded products, such as tequila.
"As long as this is fun and I am healthy, it's an amazing run," Buffett told Time magazine in 2007. "I go out for a show and I have to pinch myself. Longevity is not something you get into songwriting for. We are four decades into this and still going strong and I am just eternally grateful, so leaving it would be very hard for me."
