Coronavirus has officially hit the country music world. Many of country music’s top artists have been forced to cancel their tours to protect their millions of fans. So far, the list of big name tours impacted by coronavirus includes the likes of Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, and more according to Fox News. (See bottom for 03/21/2020 update.)
Blake Shelton Postpones “Friends and Heroes Tour”
Blake only had two weekends left of his “Friends and Heroes Tour,” but “The Voice” judge just took to Twitter to tell fans that these stops have been postponed until 2021.
Omaha, I’m here in your city with my friends and heroes and am ready to play a show for you, but for all the right reasons – chiefly everyone’s safety and well-being – we have to reschedule tonight and the rest of the tour.
— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) March 12, 2020
In a second tweet, Blake Shelton went on send some much-needed love and well wishes to his fans. His tweet reads, “Please take care of yourself and your loved ones. You can bet we’ll see you back here soon!”
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Reba McEntire Postpones Her Tour
Reba was only one week away from embarking on her 2020 arena tour. But, the “Fancy” singer announced last night that “Reba Live In Concert” has been postponed until July.
“For the safety of everyone, we have decided to postpone our new arena tour until July,” McEntire wrote on Instagram. “All tickets will be honored for the new dates. Most importantly, stay safe and take care of you and your loved ones. We’ll get through this together.”
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Kenny Chesney Holds Off On His “Chillaxation” Tour
Kenny also took to Instagram to let his fans know that his upcoming “Chillaxation” tour has been postponed.
“You can’t take risks without really understanding the consequences,” Chesney said. “In times of uncertainty, I won’t take chances with those I love. I can’t imagine, as much as we love being out there playing for the fans, being able to do that through the worry our nation is experiencing.”
“So, while we wait to see how this terrible virus is going to impact our country, I think it’s only fair to move these first several dates now,” the “Summertime” singer added.
“We are figuring some of this out as we go, but I know people buy airline tickets, book hotel rooms — and I wanted to try to give everyone as much time to sort that out as possible.”
Jason Aldean Told Fans His Performances Will Be Rescheduled
Those three aren’t the only country music stars who have been impacted by coronavirus. Jason Aldean posted a video from his tour bus in Madison, Wisconsin on Thursday after his show was postponed just hours before the “Big Green Tractor” singer was set to perform.
Aldean had just three stops left of his “We Back Tour” in Wisconsin, Missouri and Minnesota. The “Hicktown” artist told fans that these performances will likely be moved to August.
“This is the last weekend of the tour, and obviously not the way I wanted it to end for us or for you guys,” Aldean said.
“We were looking forward to going out on a high note this weekend, but obviously, with all the stuff going on, the virus and all, the city and state officials are basically making it mandatory for us to shut everything down.”
(Updated 03/21/2020)
Other Country Music Shows & Tours Postponed Due Amid Coronavirus
On March 20th, Little Big Town announced The Nightfall Tour was postponed for later dates in August to October and January 2021. The award-winning country music group said, “This tour means everything to us, but amid the health concerns surrounding our country, we feel like the only thing to do to protect the health of our fans, band, crew, and families is to postpone the upcoming spring shows.”
On March 19th, Brooks & Dunn announced they were rescheduling their highly anticipated Reboot 2020 tour for the fall.
Popular country music artist Miranda Lambert was set to headline Australia’s CMC Rocks QLD. The country fest has decided to cancel altogether.
The C2C country music festival set to hit London, Dublin, and Glasgow featuring headliners Eric Church, Luke Combs, and Darius Rucker has been postponed indefinitely.
Nashville’s The Grand Ole Opry, will pause radio show performances that include a live audience through April 4. The country landmark announced,”The Grand Ole Opry stands by the motto of the Circle can’t be broken.” On a cool note, The Saturday Night Grand Ole Opry Show is returning to its original format as a live radio broadcast. I’m kind of digging the retro approach.
One big question mark amid all the chaos was the 55th annual Academy of Country Music Awards. The popular awards show was scheduled to take place on April 5 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas is now postponed to September. The actual date for this year’s ACMs is yet to be determined.
Uncharted Waters
This just goes to show that coronavirus is impacting people of all walks of life.
Average Americans aren’t the only ones whose lives have been disrupted, as celebrities are having to make big changes, too. We expect more and more tours to be postponed as the race to stop the spread of coronavirus continues.
We can only hope that the coronavirus gets under control soon so that we can all move on with our lives by summer.
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