Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready falls off stage mid-solo, keeps playing on ground

Pearl Jam founding member and lead guitarist Mike McCready fell off the stage in the middle of a solo performance - and carried on playing. Photos / AP

The lead guitarist of one of the world’s best-selling bands Pearl Jam took a tumble on stage in the middle of a solo.

Rock band Pearl Jam kicked off an international tour last month celebrating their latest album Dark Matter, which was released in April.

Opening the Dark Matter World Tour in Vancouver, Canada on May 4, the band - who will be playing hits like Black, Alive and Yellow Ledbetter in New Zealand later this year - began the concert in high spirits for the start of their months-long tour.

The band performed nine songs from Dark Matter, as well as 16 of some of their most loved songs over the years.

The concert went smoothly for most of the night, but once they had one-third of their set left, things went awry for Mike McCready, a founding member of the band and its lead guitarist.

In a video posted to YouTube by a concertgoer, the band were performing the song Porch from their 1991 debut album Ten. McCready, 58, was in the middle of an electric guitar solo when he stepped forward and suddenly disappeared off the stage.

Pearl Jam are coming to New Zealand in November. Photo / Danny Cinch

As someone from the security team raced over to help McCready, he kept his guitar above ground and carried on with his solo while on the floor.

The guitarist can be seen misplacing his foot before falling behind a crowd about three minutes and 20 seconds into the video. McCready was able to continue playing despite the tumble, impressing fans as he carried on with a near-seamless solo performance as security helped him get on his feet.

With the incident only lasting about 10 seconds, McCready walked away uninjured and slightly amused. He could be seen smiling and continuing the performance straight after.

Pearl Jam is currently completing the Western half of its North American leg of the tour before they jet off to Dublin on June 22, where they will then tour Europe until July.

Ending their European leg in Lisbon on July 13, the band will have a month-long break before finishing off the Eastern half of its North American leg in August and September.

In November, Pearl Jam will land in Aotearoa to perform two shows at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium on November 8 and 10. They will then cross the ditch to perform several more shows across Australia.