The Ocean’s Vocalist Broke Both Legs, Performed Anyway in Wheelchair

There are a lot of things that can get you credibility as a rock star. Whether it’s starting a riot in St. Louis, biting the head off a bat, or breaking your bones and performing anyway — the possibilities are as endless as you can be creative. The latter is what happened to The Ocean vocalist Loïc Rossetti for their March 23 show in Los Angeles, CA, because despite breaking BOTH of his legs, Rossetti hauled himself onstage and played in a wheelchair.

Although the band didn’t say exactly how this happened (rocking a little too hard, we’d imagine), they stated in a Facebook post that Rossetti has four fractures in total, and will obviously need surgery. I cannot even imagine how much performing in a wheelchair must suck, especially when you’re the vocalist. It’s well-known that standing up give you more vocal power (not just in music, but in speaking, interviews, you name it), so losing that to sing and growl must be absolutely brutal. Especially when you stack that on top of the pain from both of your legs being broken.

That said, Rossetti can now join the esteemed ranks of Dave Grohl and Sid Wilson, who have both broken their legs and played shows anyway. Grohl broke his leg in 2015 after jumping offstage during the second track of a 26-song set in Gothenburg, Sweden, and later returned to finish the show. Then for a while he played in a throne specifically designed for him, a throne that he also lent to Axl Rose. Wilson, on the other hand, jumped off the stage and landed wrong on the first show of the very first Mayhem Festival back in 2008, and broke both of his heels. I specifically remember Corey Taylor asking everybody to give it up for “D.J. Moonboots” and the crowd going wild when Wilson lifted his legs up from his wheelchair.

The Ocean have a few dates left on their tour with Leprous. The Ocean have stated that the shows from Portland on after will happen without Rossetti, who is going to Switzerland for surgery, and that they will use backing vocals to round out the last leg of the tour (no pun intended).

3/25/2022 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
3/26/2022 Vancouver, BC @ The Rickshaw Theatre
3/27/2022 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
3/29/2022 South Salt Lake, UT @ The Commonwealth Room
3/30/2022 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
3/31/2022 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
4/1/2022 St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar and Hall
4/2/2022 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge