Sting sent a message of support during a show in Liverpool after the drummer in The Christians suffered a cardiac arrest on stage.
The former Police frontman was playing at the On The Waterfront festival at Pier Head in the city on Sunday night (June 22), his first performance in Liverpool since 1979.
However, earlier in the day, ‘80s band The Christians had played on the same stage, and just two songs into their set, drummer Lionel Duke collapsed and frontman Garry Christian called for help from emergency services and a privacy screen was put up around Duke.
Shortly afterwards, a spokesperson for the band spoke to the live audience, confirming that they believed Duke had suffered a cardiac arrest. “We’re really hoping he is going to make it,” the spokesperson said. “He didn’t have a pulse, he’s got one now, we think. Thank you so much.”
Thankyou so much to all the many many messages regarding our drummer Lionel Duke who suffered a cardiac arrest while…
Posted by The Christians on Sunday, June 22, 2025
A post on The Christians’ Facebook page later thanked fans for their “many many messages” of support. “We are awaiting news from the Heart and Chest Hospital at Broad Green and thank the phenomenal team of medics present from On The Waterfront Liverpool team who stepped in so swiftly to help our poor Lionel. Please send positive vibes this way.”
The band personally gave Sting their full support for him to proceed with his headline set, and when he eventually took to the stage, he took the time to share a few words on Duke’s condition.
“The drummer in the band before is OK,” Sting told the crowd (via Mirror). “He’s in hospital. All of us are praying he’s going to be fine. Our thoughts are with him.”
Elsewhere, Sting recently paid tribute to the late Beach Boys creative visionary Brian Wilson, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 82. At the end of a show in Rostock, Germany, he said: “Today, one of my heroes died; Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys. He’s gone to heaven, so I’m gonna sing a song that I love.”
He then went into a tender rendition of Wilson’s classic ‘God Only Knows’, which you can watch here.
