Katy Perry didn’t wait long Sunday night to get the wacky performance high jinks going at Little Caesars Arena.
Lifted high above her figure-eight stage, ensconced in a rig of illuminated hoops and wired up like an android, the pop star kicked off what promised to be a two-hour fun ride for an adoring Detroit audience.
Still, there was one scary moment 80 minutes into the show, instantly bringing the arena to a hush: A young fan invited onstage for a sing-along segment abruptly collapsed as Perry prepared to launch into song.
The girl, who looked to be in her early teens, appeared overwhelmed from the moment she walked to the stage, when she broke into tears and wrapped her arms around the star in a long embrace. As security and medical staffers rushed up after her collapse, Perry kicked into mom mode, crouching down and offering words of encouragement.
The fan was ultimately joined by her mother and treated at the backstage first aid area, a show official told the Free Press, though no further updates were available late Sunday.
Onstage, Perry rounded up three other young fans in a group hug and offered a prayer for the ailing girl.
Perry, now 40 and mother of a 4-year-old daughter, was making her first Detroit visit in eight years as part of her global Lifetimes Tour. Which means — by a rough eyeball estimate — about 20% of Sunday’s crowd wasn’t yet born the last time she played LCA.
It was clear the millennials who made up the pop star’s early KatyCats fandom were now back with their own kids in tow, many of them attired in sparkly outfits and song-inspired costumes.
Maximus Solomon, 4, of Sterling Heights, dressed as an alien, stands for a photo at Katy Perry’s The Lifetimes Tour at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Sunday, August 3, 2025.
Perry arrived at LCA at a seeming career crossroads, with a much-maligned new album and naysayers arguing she’s in need a musical refresh. Early videos from the tour had zeroed in on her clunky moves and jumping-jack dances. Her stature at the forefront of the pop zeitgeist increasingly appeared locked in a 2015 time capsule.
