One of house music's most famous DJs fears he could be permanently deaf after a stage manager let off an air horn next to his ear.
Lil Louis, the self-proclaimed "founding father of house", told of his fury after being forced to cancel a set due to the incident on Saturday.
The DJ said his career could be over after the horn was blasted "12 inches" from his left ear during sound checking ahead of the show at Sankeys in Manchester.
He posted on his official Facebook page: "As we were about to leave, this idiot came into the booth and without notice, decided to show off a new toy (a very powerful CO2 cannon blaster machine), which seemed 12 inches from my left ear.
"As he shot it, the compressed air that blasted out of the cannon was louder and more shrill than anything I’d ever heard. It hurt so bad, I jumped in the air and screamed."
Louis, best known for the 1989 hit French Kiss, said the incident was followed by "intense ringing and muffled silence".
He said he was taken to hospital and diagnosed with permanent sound induced hearing loss
"I am f***ing upset, because this idiot should have known better," he wrote.
"And not only did he prevent me from playing for you, he may have ended my career as a DJ and Artist."
Apologising to fans for the cancelled show, he said he was due to undergo more tests in hospital.
