Seeing Eric Church without his sunglasses is spotting Daft Punk without their helmets, Indiana Jones without his fedora, or Michael Jordan without his Nikes.
Videos by Wide Open Country
In other words, seeing him without his signature accessory just doesn't happen.
But unexpectedly, over the weekend, the "Drink In My Hand" singer surprised an audience by walking out onstage without donning his shades.
Is Eric Church OK?
The wardrobe malfunction occurred on Saturday, April 11, at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida.
It was the last date of Church's 46-date "Free the Machine" tour, but it was a rough final week for the singer. The day before, he took the stage in Jacksonville, Florida, wearing a boot on his left foot, and not the leather or steel-toed kind.
"I jumped out of bed, forgot about a suitcase at the end of the bed," he said. "I kicked the s*** out of that suitcase... And I broke my left foot."
Despite his injury, Church played his full two-and-a-half-hour set that night.
The Focus On His Foot Took the Focus Off His Head
About halfway through "Hands of Time," the opening song on Church's setlist, someone realized the singer was practically naked onstage. A crew member quickly handed Church's sunglasses to his background vocalist, who made sure they ended up on his face.
Later in the show, Church explained what had happened to the crowd.
"I want to tell you about the s***show that was the last minute of my life before I came through those doors," he began. "So I broke my foot a couple days ago, that's why I'm in a boot. So as we're going to the stage, everybody's worried about, 'Did you take Advil?' Yes. 'Did you do this?' Yes. And then, 'I don't have my [in-ear monitors], do you have my ears?' Yes, they're here.
He continued, "And they're still focused on the boot, they're focused on these things. And as I was about to walk out, I looked at my wife, who was doing most of this, and I went, 'You know what we forgot?'
"And she looked straight at me and went, 'What?' And my beautiful southern wife looks at me, and she goes, 'Oh s***!' And the doors open."
He then sums up the chaos with a wry callback: "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
Maybe not the smartest move for Church to throw his wife under the bus on the last night of his tour. However, he'll have plenty of time to make it up to her during his well-deserved downtime.
