The Who has become the latest band forced to cancel its upcoming UK and Ireland tour, which was scheduled to kick off next month.
The rescheduled 10-date tour, which was originally postponed from March 2020 due to COVID-19, was set to launch at Dublin’s 3 Arena on March 5.
In a joint statement, guitarist Pete Townshend and frontman Roger Daltrey said: “We are very sorry that we have to cancel our planned March 2021 UK and Ireland shows. Please excuse the delay but we wanted to wait as long as possible to see if we could indeed play them. However, as you can see the current situation makes this impossible. Thanks for all your wonderful support and we hope to see you in the future when conditions allow.”
Fans have been urged to contact their point of purchase for refunds as the tour currently has no rescheduled dates.
Last month, Daltrey and Townshend were among those to sign a letter slating the UK government’s Brexit deal which could make European tours “unenviable.”
In a letter published in The Times, also signed by Roger Waters, Brian May, Robert Plant and The Darkness, the musicians wrote: “British musicians, dancers, actors and their support staff have been shamefully failed by their government. The deal done with the EU has a gaping hole where the promised free movement for musicians should be: everyone on a European music tour will now need costly work permits and a mountain of paperwork for their equipment.”
The Who were also involved in the Teenage Cancer Trust shows, which have also been cancelled due to ongoing concerns surrounding COVID-19.
Performances by the band and Nile Rodgers were rescheduled for March this year after the pandemic forced the charity to previously cancel their annual week of performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall last year.
A statement from the trust’s chief executive Kate Collins said: “We’re sad to announce that due to the ongoing coronavirus situation the Teenage Cancer Trust gigs at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2021 are not able to go ahead.
“Both The Who and Nile Rodgers & CHIC kindly rescheduled their 2020 performances for 2021, but regrettably these are now cancelled. Your ticket provider will be in touch directly regarding the refund process soon.
“We are all gutted that our iconic Royal Albert Hall shows have been cancelled for a second year, but we look forward to welcoming people back to our world-famous gigs as soon as we can and we’re so grateful for all the support the music industry and artists give to make the gigs possible.”
Image: PaulHamaker / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Edited for size
Share this