Stage diving is the act of leaping from a concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

 stage onto the crowd below. It is often the precursor to crowd surfing

Crowd surfing

Crowd surfing is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person during a concert, transferring the person from one part of the venue to another...

.

Initially seen as confrontational and extreme, stage diving has become common at hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 and thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

 performances. Many musicians have made stage diving a part of their stage act. Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...

 is often credited with popularising stage diving in popular rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

.

Stage diving can cause serious injuries. One example is when Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

 of Genesis

Genesis (band)

Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...

 stage dived during the end of their song "The Knife

The Knife (song)

The Knife is a song by progressive rock band Genesis from their second album Trespass from 1970. It was performed live often in the band's early days and has appeared sporadically in the band's setlists all the way up through 1982...

", landing on his foot, thus breaking his ankle. On 20 August 2010, Charles Haddon, the lead singer of English synthpop band Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool were an English synthpop group from Camden, London, made up of Charles Haddon, Joe Hutchinson and Caan Capan. The band name is an amalgamation of French and English , and is inspired by a line from French teacher Mrs Crabbe in the television series Hardwicke House...

, died after a performance at Pukkelpop, Belgium. He committed suicide by jumping from a telecommunications mast in the backstage artists' parking area. Haddon was reported to have been distressed after he feared he had seriously injured a young girl earlier after a stagedive.