Folk and Americana artist, Ray LaMontagne, had a scary, on-stage incident at Ryman Auditorium over Labor Day weekend.
The singer-songwriter is currently out on tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of his album, Trouble. If you think you aren’t familiar with LaMontagne, I’d be willing to bet that you’ve heard the title track of that album. You’ve probably also heard LaMontagne’s song “You Are The Best Thing.”
He’s got a very recognizable voice and style, and the 53-year-old was sharing his talent with the Nashville audience over the weekend when he scarily collapsed on stage.
LaMontagne was playing the second night of a two-night run at the Ryman when fans – who apparently described the “Mother Church” as “unusually hot” that night – noticed that something wasn’t right with the artist on stage. Earlier in the concert, he messed up twice during his performance of “Hannah,” and apologized to the crowd before moving on with the show.
The singer even left the stage for a brief moment before coming back out to the microphone to sing his track “Jolene.” And it was while he was singing that track that LaMontagne became visibly unsteady… even though you would have never guessed something was wrong based on his voice, which was still hitting all the notes and booming through the Ryman.
But towards the end of “Jolene,” LaMontagne let go of guitar, grimaced and then fell down to the stage. Footage captured from the pews of the Ryman Auditorium showed how the startling moment played out:
@angelabrown445Sept 5th 2026
Members of LaMontagne’s team came out and helped him off stage, and the concert ended prematurely. “Jolene” was reportedly the second to last song of the night, so fans in attendance still got close to a full length show… but they weren’t worried about that at all.
Countless people online sent supportive messages towards LaMontagne and let the artist know that they were praying for him and his health. Sometime after the incident occurred, LaMontagne’s team put out a statement via his Instagram story letting everyone know that he was being treated for heat related dehydration, and that he was doing well:
“Thank you to everyone who came out to tonight’s show at the Ryman. Ray is in good hands with the local EMS and is being treated for heat related dehydration, he is doing well now and is grateful for everyone’s understanding.”
There’s no doubt that it’s been hot in Nashville as of late, so if the air-conditioning wasn’t firing on all cylinders that night, it was probably easy for LaMontagne to get overheated.
The good news is that the following night, LaMontagne still played his scheduled show in Louisville, Kentucky, so he was evidently feeling a lot better than he had the night before. The “Trouble” singer is set to play in Syracuse, New York on September 8, and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on September 9. Good to see that he’s already feeling well enough to get back out on stage.
