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Coronavirus: Mariah Carey, BTS, Stormzy and more cancel concerts amid outbreak concerns

Avril Lavigne and Green Day have also postponed gigs

Clémence Michallon
New York
Wednesday 04 March 2020 22:12 GMT
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Mariah Carey, BTS and Stormzy are all among artists who’ve had to cancel concerts amid the coronavirus outbreaks.

Several artists have had to postpone gigs amid travel advisories, as governments around the world took measures to contain the virus.

Carey announced on Tuesday that she wouldn’t be able to perform a planned show in Hawaii, which was supposed to take place on 10 March – but has now been postponed to November.

“Aloha Hawaii!! I’m so so sad to have to announce that I’m postponing my show to November,” she wrote on Instagram.

”I was so excited to come back to Hawaii on my ‘anniversary month’ but evolving international travel restrictions force us to consider everyone’s safety and well-being.”

BTS also recently had to cancel a series of gigs scheduled for April. A message shared on Facebook by Big Hit Entertainment, the band’s management company, reads in part: “The current global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has made it impossible at this time to predict the scale of the outbreak during the dates of the concert in April, alongside increasing uncertainty about the cross-border movement of concert staff and equipment.

“While we hope that the situation will improve, we must take into consideration the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of guests as well as our artists and the dire impact a last-minute cancellation may have on guests from overseas, production companies and staff. We have thus determined that with approximately one month left before the Seoul concert is set to begin, it is unavoidable that the concert must be cancelled without further delay.”

Avril Lavigne shared a similar announcement on Instagram recently. The singer was supposed to perform in Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong in May.

“I am so sad to announce that we are unable to tour the Asian markets due to the continuous outbreak of the coronavirus,” reads her Instagram post.

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“My band, crew and I have been working so hard to bring this tour worldwide and are completely bummed out. Please everybody take care of yourselves and stay healthy. You’re in my thoughts and prayers and we are hoping to announce rescheduled shows soon.”

Green Day also had to cancel a series of shows in Asia.

“We have unfortunately made the difficult decision to postpone our upcoming shows in Asia due to the health + travel concerns with coronavirus,” the band wrote on Twitter in late February.

“We know it sucks, as we were looking forward to seeing you all, but hold on to your tickets we’ll be announcing the new dates very soon.”

Stormzy also postponed a series of gigs, tweeting last month “I was seriously looking forward to bringing the #HITH World Tour to Asia and playing some epic sold-out shows but due to the ongoing health and travel concerns surrounding the coronavirus, I’m regrettably having to reschedule this leg of the Tour.”

Khalid has postponed tour dates in Asia as well. The live music company announced in an Instagram post: “Due to the recent advisories and travel restrictions in several Asian countries, Khalid will be postponing his upcoming tour of Asia. Our highest priority remains the safety of Khalid’s fans, his team and everyone who has been working on these concerts.⁣”

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