Madonna says she hit her head, suffered whiplash in widely viewed stage tumble at Brit Awards

LONDON – Madonna says she hit her head and suffered whiplash when she was yanked backward down some steps while performing live at the Brit Awards.

The dramatic tumble occurred Wednesday as the 56-year-old queen of pop sang “Living For Love.”

Madonna’s dancers tugged at her flowing Armani cape, but instead of coming loose it dragged the singer down three steps. Madonna said the cape had been tied too tightly at the neck “and my two lovely Japanese dancers basically strangled me off the stage.”

“I had a little bit of a whiplash and I smacked the back of my head,” Madonna told Britain’s “Jonathan Ross Show.”

“So there was a man standing over me with a flashlight until about 3 a.m., making sure I was still conscious.”

Extracts from the interview were released Friday. It will be broadcast Saturday.

The surprising tumble has been nicknamed “Cape Fear” — but Giorgio Armani said the wardrobe malfunction wasn’t his fault.

“Madonna, as we know, is very difficult,” the designer said with a smile backstage after his Emporio Armani show in Milan. “This cape had a hook and she wanted a tie, and she wasn’t able to open it with her hands. That’s all there is to it.”

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Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.