A daredevil athlete who once stunned millions during Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show has died in a tragic BASE jumping accident in a remote Utah canyon.
Andy Lewis, the extreme sports star known for his jaw-dropping slackline tricks and high-risk jumps, was killed Sunday in Grand County, Utah, authorities confirmed. Another man, described only as 50 years old, also died in the accident.
Emergency crews rushed to Mineral Bottom, a rugged desert area near the Utah-Colorado border, after reports came in that people had been injured during a BASE jumping attempt.
By the time responders arrived, Lewis and the other man were dead at the scene, according to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office.
Lewis was widely known in the extreme sports world, but he became famous to a much bigger audience in 2012 when he performed during Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Wearing a Roman-style toga, Lewis bounced and flipped on a thin slackline while Madonna performed behind him. The wild stunt turned him into an overnight celebrity.
“My phone actually rang itself to death three days in a row,” Lewis later joked during an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s late-night show.
But behind the flashy performances was a sport known for its deadly risks.
BASE jumping involves leaping from fixed objects such as cliffs, bridges, buildings and canyon walls before deploying a parachute. The sport leaves little room for error, especially in remote desert areas where rescue crews can be far away.
Lewis was no stranger to danger. He owned BASE Jump Moab, a company that offered tandem jumps to beginners, with customers harnessed to experienced guides.
Still, he openly admitted the lifestyle came with a grim reality.
“It’s weird to think about how many people are dead, because it’s like a normal thing,” Lewis told documentary filmmaker Ella Warnick in an interview published last year.
The exact cause of Sunday’s fatal accident has not yet been released.
Sheriff’s Lt. Al Cymbaluk confirmed that Lewis was one of the victims but said there were no further details available.
Lewis had spent years building a reputation as one of the most fearless athletes in the world.
He won four straight world championships in competitive slacklining from 2008 through 2011. He also set a Guinness World Record in 2011 for slackline surfing above China’s Diaoshuilou waterfall.
In 2014, he pushed the limits again by walking a slackline suspended between two hot air balloons more than 4,000 feet above the Nevada desert.
Lewis was known for slacklining and tricklining, extreme disciplines that mix balance, acrobatics and nerve-rattling heights. Unlike a traditional tightrope, a slackline has more bounce and movement, allowing performers to jump, flip and perform tricks.
His death has stunned the extreme sports community, where Lewis was considered both a pioneer and a showman.
No one from BASE Jump Moab immediately responded to requests for comment Monday.
Lewis made a career out of flirting with danger in some of the most breathtaking places on Earth. But his final jump ended in tragedy in the Utah desert.
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