The band took the stage in Irvine to tell a sold-out stadium of 16,000 people that they would be unable to perform that evening. Kiedis had showed up at the venue but due to extreme stomach pain was taken by an ambulance to a hospital.
“We are unable to play tonight,” said bass-player Flea to the crowd. “We will be playing for you very soon, and we will be playing for you like the feral animals full of love that we are. And we are sorry.”
“We are devastated about it,” Flea added. “We live to rock, but unfortunately there’s a medical thing that happened and he needed to deal with it.”
Several concert-goers caught the announcement on video:
Sad news- Flea announces that #rhcp lead singer #anthonykiedis been rushed to the hospital tonight. Concert canceled pic.twitter.com/mb89mFJs8j
— Michael Castner (@MichaelCastner) May 15, 2016
Fans were of course upset to miss out on the headlining performance, but the band seemed equally as sorry about their inability to play.
Read more to see drummer Chad Smith’s response: