Vivid LIVE Headliner Ethel Cain Collapses On Sydney Opera House Stage

5 June 2023 | 8:44 am | Mary Varvaris

"I promise I will make it up to those of you from last night whenever I can."

Photo of Ethel Cain

Photo of Ethel Cain (Credit: Matthew Tomasi)

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American singer/songwriter Hayden Silas Anhedönia, known under her moniker Ethel Cain, fainted on stage at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday night (3 June) and wound up cancelling the rest of her show at Vivid LIVE.

According to fan reports, Cain was performing the third song in her set, A House In Nebraska, before she suddenly fell backwards and landed hard on the ground.

Following her collapse, her band ran to her aid and was helped to her feet, per news.com.au, before the remainder of the show was cancelled.

The Ethel Cain fan account on Twitter, Ethel Cain Updates, assured fans that she was in “stable condition” after the fall and urged attendees with footage of her fainting not to share it online, calling those videos “insensitive and disrespectful”.

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One of the Vivid LIVE headliners, Cain addressed what happened yesterday and confirmed that her next performance at the Sydney Opera House would go ahead. She took to the stage again yesterday.

“Hi everyone, so sorry I wasn’t able to finish the show last night but all this touring and travelling has finally caught up with me,” Cain wrote on her Instagram Stories on Sunday, just hours before her next appearance at the festival.

She continued, “I am feeling better today though and am excited for the show tonight! I promise I will make it up to those of you from last night whenever I can. Thank you much Sydney, love you all.”


After her Vivid LIVE performances, Cain heads to the QPAC Theatre tomorrow (6 June), followed by two sold-out appearances at Melbourne’s RISING Festival on Friday, 9 June, and Saturday, 10 June, and ends her Australian run at Dark Mofo Festival in Hobart this Sunday.

Ethel Cain is inspired by gospel, country, rock and her mother's soundtrack of Gregorian chants, channelling her influences into her dark and dreamy breakthrough EPs Carpet Bed (2019), Golden Age (2019) and Inbred (2021). Last year, Cain released her critically acclaimed, stunning, and sprawling debut album, Preacher’s Daughter.

You can watch Cain perform A House In Nebraska at this year's Coachella festival below.