Elton John Postpones Tour Due to Coronavirus Concerns

Elton John is postponing the upcoming North American leg of his goodbye tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road, due to concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus.

The musician’s next round of dates was scheduled to kick off March 26th in Indianapolis, Indiana, and wrap May 2nd in Detroit, Michigan. The dates will be rescheduled and ticketholders will be alerted to the new dates when they are announced. Original tickets will be honored at the rescheduled performances, although it’s unclear if refunds will also be available.

John’s second North American leg is still scheduled to start May 22nd in Columbia, South Carolina, and wrap July 8th. He then has international tour dates scheduled all the way through next January.

John is the latest artist to cancel or postpone an upcoming tour as the coronavirus has swiftly wreaked havoc on the live music industry in North America and around the rest of the world. Last week, Live Nation and AEG, North America’s two largest concert promoters, recommended canceling all large-scale tours in the U.S. and abroad until April, while the coronavirus has also prompted major festivals like South by Southwest and Coachella to be canceled or postponed.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Dr. Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease physician specialist and Columbia University, explained why canceling concerts is so important when it comes to halting the spread of the coronavirus. “The concern we’re seeing now is that, as we have an increased capacity to do testing, we’re seeing that this virus is already widespread in the country,” he said. “You go to a concert, there’s that many people and that level of transmission that occurs at a concert. Unfortunately, those will be big spreading events.”