K-pop singer Rain has issued an apology after calling out a fan with a hearing impairment for not dancing at his concert.
The moment occurred during his concert at Taiwan’s Taipei Arena on January 17, as part of his ‘Still Raining: Encore’ tour. Rain noticed a woman filming him on her phone rather than dancing along with the crowd, and asked her, in Korean, why she was not dancing. The question was translated into Chinese by an interpreter at the concert.
In a video posted by the fan herself on Threads, she can be seen gesturing to her ear, and then smiling and continuing to film, without responding verbally.
The singer responded by continuing to try to get her to show more enthusiasm before giving up and carrying on with the show.
Two days after the concert, the fan posted an explanation of what had happened, tagging Rain, and sharing the same comment on his Instagram post.
“It’s not that I didn’t dance, but that I didn’t understand what Rain and the translator were saying. Because I have a hearing impairment, I need to read lips or use real-time subtitles for assistance,” she wrote on Threads (translated from Chinese).
She went on to say that she misunderstood what Rain meant, and believed he wanted her to sing louder.
“He stomped his feet in dissatisfaction and asked me to do it again,” she wrote, adding that she again thought he meant “louder” when he made an “up up” gesture.
“Afterward, I felt that why didn’t I use sign language with Rain? I didn’t want him to mistake me for a disobedient fan,” she said, adding that the two friends she was at the concert with were also hearing impaired.
Rain then responded to her post with an apology, writing : “First, I’m truly sorry I didn’t realise you couldn’t hear. I wasn’t considerate enough and didn’t think things through,” (translated from Chinese).
He continued: “Although this little incident happened, it’s given us a wonderful memory. This has made me realise I should be more careful in all aspects of my future performances.
“Although we couldn’t hear each other’s voices on stage, and we couldn’t understand the meaning of each other’s words, I saw your warm eyes, and the genuine encouragement and sincerity shining through your expression.”
Last year saw Robbie Williams admit to experiencing a similar situation, when he shared that he once “berated” crowd members at one of his shows for not standing up, before realising they were wheelchair users.
In 2024, Madonna also experienced a similarly awkward encounter during her ‘Celebration Tour’. “What are you doing sitting down over there?” she asked, pointing at the fan at the LA’s KIA Forum. “What are you doing sitting down?” After taking the microphone and walking to the edge of the stage, the realisation dawned on her. “Oh. OK,” she said.
The concertgoer later defended the Queen Of Pop’s actions, saying: “Some people are in wheelchairs and can stand. She had no idea I was paralysed.”