Kanye West sets himself on fire during Donda listening party

New album has tentative release date in September

Kanye West (pictured left at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2020) set himself on fire during an event for his forthcoming album ‘Donda’ (right) (Left: JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images – Right: Apple Music)

Kanye West set himself on fire as part of a planned stunt during his listening party for his forthcoming Donda on Thursday.

The event took place at Soldier Field, a 61,500-seat sports venue in Chicago, Illinois, and was live-streamed by Apple Music.

West surprised fans in several ways, including when he recreated his wedding to Kim Kardashian onstage.

Another highly talked-about moment came when West walked on the stage ablaze, with flames engulfing him from head to toe.

He was followed by people holding fire extinguishers who eventually put out the flames.

Variety described the stunt as follows: “[West] set himself on fire toward the end of the show, emerging from the house and walking around in a fire-resistant suit until a stagehand doused him with a red extinguisher that had been sitting next to the house for the entire evening.”

Fans shared footage and screenshots of the moment on social media, expressing their surprise and awe. Apple Music posted a gif of West sitting down while on fire.

The release of Donda has been delayed multiple times. A tentative release date of 3 September has currently been set.

Donda will be West’s 10th studio album, following up on Jesus Is King, unveiled in 2019, and Ye, released in 2018.