On This Day in Music History: Onstage Assassination Attempt Thwarted Against Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page

On this day (March 31) in 1995, an assassination attempt against Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was enacted by a former fan who claimed the band’s music contained satanic messages.

At a show in Auburn Hills, Michigan, the ex-Led Zep outfit Page and Plant – consisting of Page and the legendary rock band’s former frontman Robert Plant – took the stage in the city’s now-demolished Palace Arena. The stop on their No Quarter Tour should have rocked the house, instead, it nearly ended in tragedy.

The attacker was 23-year-old Lance Alworth Cunningham, who while wielding a pocket knife attempted to rush the stage. His plans, however, were thwarted when security, crew members, and a handful of fans subdued him before he could get to the guitarist.

At the time of Cunningham’s sentencing, the Tampa Bay Times reported that four people from that night sustained minor cuts from the assailant’s knife which he reportedly “dropped onto the floor behind the stage” during the altercation.

According to Police Chief John Dalton, Cunningham had plans to “off Jimmy Page.” Page, on the other hand, was none the wiser of the assassination attempt being foiled 50 feet away from him, police shared. Page instead carried on with his performance of Led Zeppelin’s classic “Kashmir.”

Cunningham was arrested and reportedly jailed on three counts of felonious assault and one count of aggravated assault.

Page is not the first artist to have been the target of an onstage attack. Crazed fans seem to come with the territory, and some have unfortunately gotten farther than Cunningham with their plans. Artists have been hit by projectiles from a rowdy crowd, some have been pushed and punched while onstage. Lou Reed was even bitten on the backside once. Some attacks on musicians have even been fatal, like Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell who was shot and killed while onstage.

Photo by Ian Dickson/Redferns