Jason Derulo has recounted one of the “scariest moments” of his life when he broke his neck at a rehearsal.
In a chat on the I Am Paris podcast, the Trumpet hitmaker said he thought the accident, which occurred at a 2013 tour rehearsal, might be “the end of it all.”
He explained that he was working with a trainer, at the time, to prepare for his world tour when things went south.
“He [the trainer] was like, ‘today we’re gonna work on endurance, so I’ll need you to do these back tucks, back-to-back-to-back,’” the singer said, adding he slipped during one of the back tucks and landed on his head, breaking his “C2 vertebrae” — a part of his neck.
Back tuck (flip) is a maneuver in which performers start from a standing position and fling their body backward, landing on their hands and then springing off them to land back on their feet, facing the same direction.
Jason Derulo described hearing, “a big crack,” with all kinds of thought running through his head. “I was like Holy s–t…Is this how it all ends?” he said.
After laying on the ground for five minutes, he said, he gathered himself, walked to the car holding his neck, and immediately rushed to the hospital.
At the hospital, he explained that the doctor told him the accident was bad but the good news was that he could be out [of the hospital] in seven months.
The 34-year-old said the accident was so bad that he could not tie his shoes or take a shower by himself.
“That was the first time in my life where I felt like I just had no control,” he stated, adding that a major blow for him was the cancellation of his tour, which he knew would be a disappointment for his fans.
While in seven months of intense rehab, including a 45-minute walk every morning, he managed to write and record his 2013 Talk Dirty (aka Tattoos) album.
In February this year, Jason Derulo, premiered his Nu King album and continues to hold a series of music concerts dubbed the “NuKing World Tour” to support the project.
The tour will end on August 18, 2024. He has made stops in Manchester, Stockholm, Oslo, and several other locations, drawing a large crowd to his captivating performance.