A peculiar happening occurred 40 years ago on October 18, which severely impacted the career of one major musician forever. Soul legend Al Green was at his home with girlfriend Mary Woodson White, a married woman. Despite the latter fact, White pressured Green to tie the knot with her, to which he refused. In a rage, she dumped a pot of boiling grits on top of the vocalist as he bathed—causing severe burns to his back, stomach and arms—before heading to the other room and killing herself with his handgun.
That sort of incident will cause anyone to step back and look at their life but Green was especially moved. He saw it as an act of God, dissuading him from his wicked ways and in the direction of more Gospel-tinged R&B music (while becoming a pastor). The event would come to be known as "The Grits Incident."
It wouldn't be the last time that food made its way into incidents, and incidents made their way into music. Check out four other edible incidents in music:
"The Mudshark Incident" (1969)
The "mudshark incident" is one of the most notorious instances of rock 'n' roll legend that exists, and how much of it is actually true varies depending on who you ask. As many of you know, the event involved members of Led Zeppelin, fellow rockers Vanilla Fudge, a really intoxicated groupie and a mudshark—a species of small shark prevalent in the Seattle waters where this took place. Supposedly band members cut the fish up (or not) before probing into places on the female body where sharks do not belong. That's all we're gonna say about that. Mudsharks aren't popular for consumption however Zeppelin manager Richard Cole claimed the fish was actually a red snapper—a very popular dining option—to match the girl's red hair. We can only hope this is legend or otherwise just not think about it at all.
The String Cheese Incident (1993)
The String Cheese Incident is popular on the jam band front thanks to its unique blend of bluegrass music along with more typical psychedelic elements. Although the title falls 100 percent in line with what one imagines a jam band should be called, the titular incident is based in fact: Prior to striking it big, String Cheese played around the ski resorts in Boulder. One night at a bar, a food fight broke out, with string cheese being the weapon of choice. No word on whether the band was ever invited back to the establishment. This won't be the last food fight on this list. In fact...
"The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993)
Around the same time, the Guns N' Roses were busy recording the last album featuring its classic lineup and tensions were high. Drummer Steven Adler had been fired following his epic drug use and he filed a lawsuit, contending that it was actually a pharmaceutical drug he was taking to aid in his detox that caused the issues. One of many bones of contention to come up during the lengthy trial was a fight in which Axl Rose pelted the drummer with spaghetti. The band's lawyer referred to the act as "the spaghetti incident" during the trial, which earned a chuckle from Rose and the honor of being the band's next album title. The quotation marks in the title have been established as an official part of the name.
"The Pineapple Incident" (2005)
This is a bit of a stretch but stick with us here: "The Pineapple Incident" is the highest-rated episode of the first season of How I Met Your Mother and it would contain all of the typical shenanigans of the show, plus a segment of Ted still having a crush on Robin. The episode opens with Ted being as mopey as ever before going on an all-night blitz. He wakes up with a strange woman, his jacket burnt up and a pineapple on his nightstand. The episode works backwards until the event that got it all rolling: Our protagonist singing Cheap Trick's "Voices" at the bar. The only event that never gets figured out is where the pineapple came from.
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