British singer Adele was left mortified following her performance at a Neil Diamond tribute gig in 2009, when she realised the star-studded audience had become transfixed by a tampon she had strapped to her bloody finger.
Diamond's recording career and philanthropy were honoured at the MusiCares Person of the Year gala in 2009, and he asked the soul sensation to sing his classic Cracklin' Rosie at the show.
But the event got off to a terrible start for Adele after she failed to find a bandage for a bleeding thumb, and in desperation, she reached out for a tampon.
She thought she had pulled off the minor emergency until she bumped into Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis backstage.
Adele tells Britain's Sunday Times, "My ghetto nail had come off the night before... It ripped my real nail off, so I had a tampon on my thumb to soak up the blood.
"I had to go on stage in my coat 'cos all my dresses were in the dry cleaner, so I looked like I didn't even wanna be there. I meant to put my good hand at the tip of the mike stand, which I always cling onto, but forgot because I was so stressed.
"Anthony Kiedis came over after and said I was the best - which I wasn't, he was just being polite. Then he admitted that, on the screen behind, the tampon was right in front of my face. I was so embarrassed, I ran off."
The Brit fears she'll never be asked to perform for Diamond again: "Neil was getting a lifetime achievement award and asked me to sing Cracklin' Rosie. I didn't know the words, and it's a baritone balled, which is useless for me. So, obviously, I was f**king rubbish."