Keith Richards' Coconut Tree Fall and Brain Surgery (2006)

The most Keith Richards thing ever: in April 2006, while vacationing in Fiji, he climbed a coconut tree to get a better view of the sunset—and fell backward, hitting his head hard on the ground. The fall caused a subdural hematoma (bleeding on the brain), requiring emergency surgery in New Zealand where doctors removed a blood clot. Richards later claimed he didn’t even remember the fall, waking up in the hospital feeling “a bit groggy.”

Within weeks, he was back on stage with the Rolling Stones in Europe, joking about the incident and wearing a bandana to cover the surgical scar. He quipped that the only lasting damage was a slight memory loss—but “I can’t remember what I forgot.” The episode became legendary proof of Richards’ indestructible rock ’n’ roll persona, though he admitted doctors warned him that another fall could be fatal.