“Very worrying to see him so emotional”: Fans voice concerns after Gary Numan breaks down during Birmingham gig after hearing "worst news ever"

Gary Numan appeared to break down with emotion during a gig at Birmingham’s 02 Academy on Saturday, saying that it was because he had received the “worst news ever”.

The 67-year-old is currently on a tour commemorating the 45th anniversary of his 1980 album, Telekon, and it was whilst performing Please Push No More from that album that he had to halt the set temporarily. His wife Gemma came on stage to comfort him. After collecting himself, Numan continued, explaining that that morning he had been given “the worst news ever.”

Quite understandably, he did not say what exactly that news was, but he did tell the audience that he would explain more when he had had time to come to terms with it.

Numan did play his show in Bristol last night (16 November) but he cancelled a meet and greet with fans at that show due to “ongoing difficulties”.

Fans are understandably concerned and took to social media to send best wishes to Numan and his family.

“Gary Numan @ Birmingham O2 tonight. Absolutely, utterly outstanding. I mean the guy never misses imo but tonight was so, so good,” wrote one fan on Twitter/X, adding: “Rough to see him so upset during ‘PPNM’ – not looking forward to hearing the reason in the coming days. Can’t be good. Absolute pro to battle on.”

“Very worrying to see him so emotional,” another fan wrote. “Whatever it is… it does not look good.”

Another posted: "Hope Gary Numan is ok. Do we know if he's ok? Heard he was super emotional last night."

The singer is on tour until 30 November. He also has a live album out – 1,000: Live At The Electric Ballroom is a recording of his, well, 1,000th gig from earlier this year at the Camden venue.

Writing on Facebook last week, Numan explained what reaching that landmark meant to him: “Playing 1,000 shows is quite something, and yet if someone had said it was 5,000 the number would still have felt low, given the extraordinary effort, sacrifice, commitment (and stress) that’s been poured into those shows over the years.

“Each tour is a life within a life, a world within a world. Each one a unique adventure. I have been touring my entire adult life, from a nervous, out-of-my-depth, sulky young man to something entirely different today. It’s a life like no other, and I feel privileged to have reached the 1,000 show milestone, and honoured to have shared that journey with so many of you.”