Source: Vivien Killilea / Getty
Miguel’s body suspension act during a recent concert is being called everything from “devil worship” to an “insane level of dedication.”
The singer made his extreme display Aug. 25 at Sony Pictures Studios in Los Angeles during a performance of “Rope” — a song on his forthcoming fifth album, Viscera. Miguel hung for about five minutes from two metal hooks dug into his back by body piercers during the invite-only show, according to Vibe.
A pre-concert advisory reportedly told attendees that the performer would do “boundary-pushing artistry including body manipulation, skin piercing and water-based haze,” adding, “viewer discretion advised.”
The singer later revealed the eight small holes left in his back from the metal hooks on Instagram. He also included a snapshot of a bloodied tank top. His caption on Aug. 29 was, “VISCERA. What is your relationship to pain? What is your relationship to change?”
Many Instagram users were disturbed by the post and Miguel’s body piercing act in general. Netizens implied “sinister” and occult notions about the musician and his public display of pain. Many associated the suspension with devil worship and deemed it a “ritual.”
“Unnecessary pain is not worth it. Just like selling your soul…not worth it.”
“Satan has entered the chat. U thought this was so cold didn’t u 😒. God help us!!! Yuck.”
“Blood rituals. Why do celebrities do devil shit?”
“If this ain’t showing satanist I don’t know what is.”
“Yeah… No explanation needed over here. It’s clear there’s something going on and it’s sinister.”
The tradition of body suspension traces back 5,000 years to Hindus in India as a spiritual practice, according to SkinArtists.com.
Vice noted in a 2015 piece that another historical connection ties the ritual to the Mandan tribe of North America — who suspended boys during their transition into adulthood. The source noted that modernly, body suspension “is a spiritual and subcultural phenomenon practiced all over the world.”
Guitarist Dave Navarro of the rock band Jane’s Addiction previously expressed an appreciation for the mind-body connection he experienced while trying the niche practice.
In a 2013 interview for The Guardian, he said, “To be honest, at first I just wanted to try it because it was interesting; I didn’t know that there was going to be an experience attached to it. I saw it as just a mind-over-matter thing until I got off the ground the first time. Then a lightbulb went off.”
“I can get a very intensely gratifying emotional release. Sometimes it’s just fun, but it can also be very meditative. If I’ve been in a deep depression for a few weeks, a few hooks and a few feet in the air and I’m feeling radiant and optimistic again,” the guitarist added.
On X, Miguel received more disturbed and confused reactions to his graphic performance, in addition to some praise. Peep more responses to the controversial body suspension act below.
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