In 2005, Kelly Clarkson made headlines when she suddenly fired her guitarist, Dwayne Larring, while performing her song “A Moment Like This” on her Breakaway Tour.
Clarkson, who was on her first headlining tour shortly after her American Idol win, shocked fans by announcing mid-performance that it would be Larring’s last show. She boldly told the crowd, “Tonight is Dwayne’s last night cause he just got fired.”
And whatever Larring had done then, Clarkson wanted everyone to know it.
“How many of you know how to respect someone?,” Clarkson asked the crowd as the song ended.
“I want everybody to give Dwayne Larring, the guitarist that just went around the stage and tried to ruin this show for y’all, I want you to give him a hand right now. I’m gonna pray for ya Dwayne, because you’re gonna need it. You’re gonna need it when I get off this stage.”
She then introduced her song “Breakaway” by telling the crowd, “you gotta break away from people like that.”
Following the incident, reports swirled about what led to this dramatic on-stage dismissal. While rumors circulated about Larring making inappropriate gestures to the crowd, Clarkson later clarified that his actions involved tampering with band equipment, disrupting the show’s flow.
And even though the incident happened almost 20 years ago, Clarkson has rarely addressed the moment. During a rare occasion when Clarkson spoke about that night, she reflected, “He was having a hard time in life, and I fought hard for him because everybody was having a hard time with him on the road. And he wasn’t happy.”
Despite her efforts to support him, ongoing issues pushed her to a breaking point where she felt compelled to take action in that moment.
“Everybody goes through hard times, me included, everyone, but it just got overwhelming and it was like, ‘Man, you’re ruining the vibe, this has gotta end now.’”
Thankfully, Clarkson did mention that she had heard Larring was doing much better in life since that night.
Watch the video of Kelly Clarkson firing her guitarist on stage in the video below.