Touring
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After excitedly booking her showcase at next week’s South by Southwest music festival, Zoë Mead, the British shoegaze artist known as Wyldest, tried to land other U.S. club and festival gigs to offset her already-high travel expenses.
To do all this legally, she learned, required getting a temporary work visa costing $460 plus another $2,800 for faster processing. Hiring a lawyer or immigration specialist to file the application would have added another thousand dollars minimum to the bill. “It’s just too risky,” she says. “You have to reject a hell of a lot of things, which is really frustrating.”
And beginning April 1, immigration and visa entry costs for international artists playing festivals, concerts or label events in the U.S. are set to rise even higher.
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The fees for filing “O” and “P” visa petitions — the former covers “individuals who possess extraordinary ability,” the latter “internationally renowned performing groups” and music ensembles of up to 25 people — will increase from $460 to maximum costs of $1,655 and $1,615, respectively. That price includes a $600 Asylum Program Fee, which the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will use to offset the costs of adjudicating cases of immigrants seeking asylum from persecution and violence — a process unrelated to the music business.
There are, however, reduced rates for visa applications backed by a promoter, agency, festival or record company (the so-called petitioner) with less than 25 full-time employees. For those companies, the new fee is capped at $830 (including a $300 asylum levy). For non-profit petitioners, the total fee is capped at $530. (Crews and traveling production staff also require either an appropriate O or P visa to work in the U.S., while artists invited to perform at official showcase events like SXSW, such as Mead, maybe able to enter the U.S. using an ESTA/Visa Waiver, which costs $21).
USCIS representatives say the increased fees will cover rising business costs and reduce processing backlogs. They also contend the pricing surge will not affect musicians because promoters, club owners and labels will be paying the fees.
It’s cold comfort for international acts — especially those starting their live careers — who fear those costs will ultimately be passed on to them, making it too expensive for all but established artists to play U.S. dates. “It’s going to have a chilling effect,” says Rita Sostrin, a Los Angeles-based immigration attorney who represents many international acts. “I’m certainly hearing a lot of displeasure from my clients for these higher fees.”
The fear among international artists, especially those at the start of their live careers, is that the extra costs will ultimately be passed onto them, making it too expensive for all but established international acts to play American concert venues and festivals. “That burden of applying for and paying for the visas is shared across the artists, managers, promoters and venues,” says Neeta Ragoowanski, president of the Music Managers Forum U.S., which opposes the fee increases. “It’s going to affect artists’ decisions on how these tours go,” she says.
Last year, USCIS temporarily paused its plans to increase fees following strong opposition from artist and music-industry advocacy groups such as the National Independent Venue Association and UK Music.
The new fees being introduced April 1 are nominally lower than the non-tiered rises first proposed by USCIS, but still represent “a significant extra burden for touring U.K. bands and artists, particularly for emerging acts that operate on the tightest of margins,” says UK Music interim chief executive Tom Kiehl.
Those margins are being squeezed tighter by the majority of international artists needing to pay out for “premium” visa processing, says Andy Corrigan, owner of U.K.-based Viva La Visa, which specializes in immigration services for music acts and has recently work on U.S. touring arrangement for The Damned and former Spice Girl Melanie C. Premium processing fees rose in February from $2,500 to $2,805 with the time for processing applications increasing from 15 calendar days to 15 business days.
“Almost every band that we deal with has to use premium because the standard processing is so uncertain,” he says. “The whole system is loaded against new and emerging artists. It’s grossly unfair.”
Corrigan says he has lowered his company’s visa fees following the price rises “to try and mitigate the increase in costs for everybody,” but fears that some artists will be tempted to enter the U.S. illegally, without the proper visa documentation in place, as a result of the extra financial burden being placed on them.
“People have got to take a longer-term view and recognize the value of cultural exchange and music, and not just think that they can squeeze every dollar out of the sector,” says Jon Collins, chief executive of U.K. industry trade group LIVE. He calls USCIS’s January sudden announcement of the rise in visa fees – following a period of consultation – a “fait accompli” that will have a detrimental impact on the health of the U.K. and U.S. grass roots music industry.
“It just feels like you’re constantly being slapped in the face,” says Mead, who had to turn down an invitation to play a pre-SXSW festival, New Colossus, in New York next month. “It was already expensive, and they put it up even more, and it’s like, ‘how?’”
A suspected drug overdose and the forces of nature soured the 2024 Pitch Music & Arts festival, a long-weekend camping festival in Victoria, Australia which wrapped its seventh edition.
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Pill-testing is back in the national headlines after a 23-year-old man, who is understood to have consumed black-market drugs, died after being airlifted to The Alfred hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“Our thoughts are with their family and friends. We have our Crowd Care team on site to support patrons and staff, and are committed to providing support services to those who need them,” reads a statement from organizers.
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The identity of the man, from Niddrie in Melbourne’s northwest, has not been disclosed. “We cannot comment further at this time given the necessity to protect the privacy of those affected,” the statement continues.
As party-goers and their families absorbed the news of a suspected drug fatality, Greens spokesperson Aiv Puglielli called on the state government to “shift gears and finally set up pill-testing” at music events.
“While this Labor government continues to stall,” Puglielli adds in a statement “young Victorian lives are being put at risk.” Even with “pure MDMA we’ve seen how extreme heat can deal a deadly blow. So with untested drugs circulating, this was truly a disaster waiting to happen.”
According to the Guardian, two other men, aged in their 30s and 40s, were taken to East Grampians Health Service suffering suspected overdoses, and are said to be in a stable condition.
Pill testing was trialed at Canberra’s Spilt Milk festival in 2018, paving the way for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government launching the country’s first fixed-site health and drug checking service as a six-month pilot in July 2022. That service has now been extended to December 2024.
Victoria’s leadership, however, has no current plans to trial pill testing in the state, though a spokesperson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation earlier in the year that $21 million of taxpayers’ money is spent each year on harm reduction activities, which include engaging with attendees at festivals and nightclubs.
Pitch is produced by Untitled Group, the largest independent music and events company in Australia, whose festival brands include Beyond The Valley, Sun Cycle NYD, Grapevine Gathering, Wildlands, Ability Fest and more.
Earlier, Untitled scrubbed the final day of Pitch, set for Monday, March 11, as “extreme” heat swept through the state. “Through consultation with authorities,” reads a statement issued by organizers Sunday afternoon, “we have been directed to cancel the remainder of Pitch Music & Arts 2024 in light of an updated extreme fire danger warning issued this afternoon for tomorrow.”
The message continues, “we have consistently followed the guidance of relevant authorities throughout the entire process.”
Though guests weren’t in “immediate danger,” the statement continues, “everyone on site” was encouraged to “calmly pack-up” and move along.
The climate crisis is real, it’s here, and it’s ruined many festivals in this part of the world. According to Green Music Australia, the lobby body for music and the environment in Australia, over 45 music festivals in Australia have been partially or fully cancelled due to weather impacts since 2015. On top of that, notes CEO Berish Bilander, other cultural events have cited rising insurance premiums due to weather as a cause for cancelation.
Add Moomba Festival to that list; organizers scrapped Monday’s parade, due to hazardous conditions.
Following two consecutive sold-out events in 2023 and 2022, Pitch, a celebration of music, arts, and community, brought back a ballot system for 2024.
The event was slated for March 8-12 in Moyston, about 140 miles west of Melbourne, coinciding with Victoria’s Labour Day long weekend.
A Los Angeles judge is pressing pause on a bombshell sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Lizzo by three of her former backup dancers, halting all proceedings while the star appeals a recent ruling that allowed the case to move forward.
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In a decision Thursday, Judge Mark H. Epstein ordered the case “stayed” while Lizzo challenges his January ruling, which largely rejected her efforts to dismiss the lawsuit under California’s anti-SLAPP statute — a special law that makes it easier to quickly end meritless lawsuits that threaten free speech.
It’s unclear how long that process will take, but it will be at least several months before the case resumes.
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Lizzo (real name Melissa Jefferson) was sued in August by dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, who claim she and her Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. created a hostile work environment through a wide range of legal wrongdoing, including sexual harassment and religious and racial discrimination.
In one particularly vivid allegation, Lizzo’s accusers claimed she pushed them to attend a live sex show at a venue in Amsterdam’s famed Red Light District called Bananenbar, and then pressured them to engage with the performers, including “eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas.” After Lizzo herself allegedly led a chant “goading” Davis to touch one performer’s breasts, the lawsuit says, Davis eventually did so.
Repped by Hollywood defense attorney Martin D. Singer, Lizzo fired back in October, arguing that Davis, Williams and Rodriguez filed the case seeking “a quick payday with minimal effort.” He said they had “an axe to grind” against the star because they had been reprimanded over “a pattern of gross misconduct and failure to perform their job up to par.”
Lizzo’s motion to dismiss the case cited the anti-SLAPP statute, which stands for “strategic lawsuits against public participation.” Her lawyers called the harassment lawsuit “a brazen attempt to silence defendants’ creative voices and weaponize their creative expression against them.”
But in his ruling in January, Judge Epstein ruled that the anti-SLAPP law didn’t quite fit all of the lawsuit’s allegations. He tossed out some claims – including a particularly loaded charge that Lizzo fat-shamed one of her dancers – but ruled that remainder of the case could go forward.
Figuring out the proper balance – between protected speech and illegal discrimination – was “no easy task,” Judge Epstein wrote, but he said he had “tried to thread this needle.”
“It is dangerous for the court to weigh in, ham-fisted, into constitutionally protected activity,” the judge wrote. “But it is equally dangerous to turn a blind eye to allegations of discrimination or other forms of misconduct merely because they take place in a speech-related environment.”
It’s that ruling that Lizzo is now appealing. The coming appellate fight will aim to answer tricky questions about the anti-SLAPP statute – a provision that is often used to fight back against defamation lawsuits, not against discrimination lawsuit filed by former employees against their employer.
In statement Friday, the accusers’ attorney Ron Zambrano said: “This case now hinges on appeals. They’ll file, then we’ll cross-file, so the judge has stayed the case for the time being pending those appeals.” An attorney for Lizzo did not immediately return a request for comment.
“I remember having a conversation when we were teenagers,” Bananarama’s Keren Woodward tells Billboard, “thinking that I probably wouldn’t be doing (Bananarama) when I was 25. It seemed so far away. I couldn’t imagine.”
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Fast forward four decades to now. Not only is the British group (which debuted as a trio but has continued as a duo since 1991) still active, but they are releasing Glorious: The Ultimate Collection on Friday (March 8). The collection spans era-defining chart hits, fan favorites and two new songs, “Feel the Love” and “Supernova,” both of which deftly capture the runaway-train ebullience of the band’s ‘80s hits. “I don’t really see that because you get to a certain age or a certain point you should stop,” Woodward says, “(As long as) you like what you’re doing and other people are enjoying it too.”
Speaking to the duo over Zoom, it’s clear that the comfortable chemistry between Woodward and Dallin is a huge part of why they’ve been together for more than 40 years. “It’s so monumental to have been around for decades, making music and writing our own songs,” Dallin says with a touch of pride and incredulousness. “Keren and I realized how much we’d achieved, particularly as women in this industry, when we wrote our book a couple of years ago, Really Saying Something. When you sit down and retrace everything from the age of 18… when we pieced it all together, we felt a certain satisfaction that we had achieved quite a lot.”
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Comparing the industry now to what it was like in the ‘80s, Dallin believes that “women are getting a little bit more of a bite… but still not enough. It’s shifting slowly, the sands, but there’s still a long way to go.”
The industry’s overdue crawl toward gender parity has been reflected in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s recent induction classes, which were once quite testosterone-heavy (fully shutting out women as recently as 2016) but have begun to welcome more women into the Hall’s ranks each year. When asked about the idea of Bananarama in the Rock Hall, Woodward perks up: “I wouldn’t turn it down!” “I think it needs more females,” Dallin adds. “I had just heard that Cher is only just being [nominated]. It’s like, really?”
As pop hitmakers who helped carve out space for female artists to sustain lifelong careers in the music business, both are delighted to see how many women are dominating the scene these days. Even so, the duo hasn’t heard the most recent Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 from probably the biggest artist on the planet – which is perhaps surprising given that the song, “Cruel Summer,” shares a title with one of their own beloved hits.
“I haven’t heard it, I’m afraid,” Dallin says of Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” to which Woodward drily intones, “I would have preferred her recording mine because then I could have made some of her money.” Of their own “Cruel Summer,” Woodward recalls the “massive, welcome shock” of learning it reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1984. “Knowing that we’d cracked the top 10 in the Billboard charts was definitely a moment,” she remembers.
For up-and-coming women in the music industry, the duo has some specific, sage advice. “It’s such a hard business and even the most talented people just don’t get through,” Dallin says. “I would say for females, always be chaperoned. Always have somebody with you, never go to the studios on your own. Never go and meet people who say they’re going to do things for you – just always take someone with you.”
“We were very lucky because we always had each other. We’ve always got each other’s backs,” Woodward says.
While they believe social media has helped some artists circumvent the traditional industry gatekeepers, they’re also quick to note that it’s a double-edged sword. “I don’t know how it would have been for me if somebody could comment on literally everything I wore and everything I said,” Dallin muses. For her part, Woodward knows how it would have been if there had been social media when she was an 18-year-old pop star: bad. “I think appearance-wise, when it gets really personal, I think it might have destroyed me, reading the amount of bitchy, negative comments.”
But Bananarama has spun gold out of staying strong in the face of adversity. A perfect example is the band’s 1986 Hot 100 No. 1, a pounding dance cover of Shocking Blue’s “Venus.” “We’d heard a song with a Hi-NRG beat and we’d just found Stock Aitken and Waterman, the producers, and we asked them to do a Hi-NRG version of ‘Venus,’” Dallin recalls of the recording’s genesis. “Nobody wanted to do (it), not the record company or Stock Aitken and Waterman. So we when did it, on our insistence, and it became No. 1, it was fantastic.”
Even though the group’s biggest Hot 100 hit was a cover, Bananarama has by and large written most of its own material over its 40-year career – which is part of what keeps them going. “It’s the joy of scribbling something down in your kitchen, and then the next minute, you’re singing it at Glastonbury or Kew Gardens – you’re suddenly singing it to thousands of people,” says Dallin ahead of the group’s anniversary shows at the London Palladium.
“We’re not doing it just because it’s the only thing we’ve done,” Woodward declares. “We’re genuinely doing because we love it. I mean, when we when we do shows, it’s extraordinary how much fun we have with a live audience.”
“To still be able to do that, I feel very lucky,” Dallin says. “I think there’s an authenticity to us we’ve never lost,” Woodward opines. “A lot of it has to do with us being friends for so long and keeping each other grounded. It all goes towards making us a complete band and having that joy. I wouldn’t necessarily want to do it for this long if it was just me on my own. That’s part of the joy.”
Saddle up: There’s a big anniversary in Asbury Park, N.J.
The Stone Pony, birthplace of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, is celebrating 50 years. In February 1974, New York native Jack Roig opened the Ocean Avenue club, situated across from the Asbury Park boardwalk, and local superstar Bruce Springsteen soon brought it to national fame.
The Jukes started playing regularly at the Pony in 1974 as one of the venue’s first house bands — and early incarnations included future E Street Band member Little Steven Van Zandt. Springsteen began to hang around soon after.
The 1976 record release party for the Jukes’ debut, I Don’t Want To Go Home, helped put the club on the map. Springsteen, members of the E Street Band and legendary singers Ronnie Spector and Lee Dorsey made guest appearances at the concert, which was simulcast across the region including on major Philadelphia rock station WMMR-FM. The sound of Asbury Park — a merging of rock’n’roll and horn-fueled R&B and soul — was a hit.
The venue has had several owners since its ’70s heyday with Roig and his partner, Robert “Butch” Pielka, who sold the venue in 1991 before it became a short-lived dance club called Vinyl from 1998 to 1999. A year later, Domenic Santana reopened the club with a ballyhooed press conference that included an appearance by then-New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, only to move on by 2003 and leave real estate company Asbury Partners in charge. With the future of the Stone Pony in doubt, it hired Asbury Park local Caroline O’Toole, who left a nearby club to manage the venue. O’Toole stayed on when developer Madison Marquette took ownership in 2008. The company brought Live Nation on board that year.
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For more than 30 years, the city and oceanfront had been in a downward spiral that included riots in 1970, a desolate downtown and empty beaches on hot summer days. Springsteen spoke of Asbury Park’s “boarded-up windows, the empty streets” in “My City of Ruins.” These days, the city and its famed music venue are choice destinations.
“Shows were sold out at the Stone Pony,” President Barack Obama said on the city’s boardwalk, steps away from the venue, in 2013 after Superstorm Sandy. “I think a friend of mine from here once put it pretty well: ‘Down the shore, everything’s all right.’ ”
The modest- looking venue (shown here in 2005) has helped drive the revitalization of Asbury Park.
John Cavanaugh
The Stone Pony’s 850-capacity indoor stage and 4,500-capacity outdoor Summer Stage have hosted stars from Elvis Costello to Blondie, Green Day to Demi Lovato, as well as local favorites like Springsteen over its 50-year history. The modest building, painted white stucco on the outside with a simple rectangular floor plan, will continue its storied legacy with anniversary shows throughout the year. The Jukes played there Feb. 16 and Feb. 17 (although Southside Johnny left the second show early and was briefly hospitalized for dehydration, according to a band spokesman).
On the boardwalk overlooking the venue, O’Toole — whom Roig has called the Stone Pony’s “best manager” — discusses the venue today, its role in Asbury Park and the magic of a rock’n’roll night on the Jersey Shore.
Founding owner Jack Roig is still a familiar sight at the Stone Pony.
One of the things that makes the venue so special is that we’ve never tried to erase the past. We embrace the past. And Jack, it doesn’t get any earlier than him and Butch [Pielka], and his spirit is always there.
When you’re in the club off-hours, what do the walls talk to you about?
Probably most of the things I can’t tell you. (Laughs.) But I think it speaks volumes about customers’ experiences and band experiences and history that was being made when we didn’t even know it was being made. A lot of E Street members meeting their wives there; Bruce [Springsteen], especially, meeting Patti [Scialfa] there. All of these things were happening in addition to the music being played. It’s amazing to hear those stories and know that the Stone Pony was part of that.
Why do you think people make such a strong connection with the Stone Pony?
People come there for the music and the vibe. It’s like perfect conditions for meeting somebody, and you’re meeting somebody with the same interest, same ideology that you have. That music is a source for the good things in your life.
The Stone Pony Summer Stage, adjacent to the club, has hosted scores of national acts such as Asking Alexandria in 2019.
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What were the venue and the city like when you first started working here?
It was 2003, and the boardwalk was still very much a desolate area. The redevelopment company at the time, Asbury Partners, was here, but everything was still in the very early stages. What I noticed the most [as someone] coming from the Belmar community [where O’Toole lived at the time] was that Memorial Day weekend in Belmar was a big deal. I remember being here in the summer thinking, “This is nothing like Belmar,” and it’s only three towns away. I couldn’t get over that. I just couldn’t believe what Asbury was like [in the midst of its decadeslong economic decline] in the summer. It took every bit of effort on my part, on a couple of other people’s parts, to keep [the Stone Pony] there because there were so many times in that five years [it] could have gone out of business.
What shows does Live Nation book at the Stone Pony? How does that work?
They book 99% of the outside shows [on the Summer Stage, adjacent to the club]. Once in a while, I’ll throw in one, or there will be a special rental or something like that. They book a lot of our inside shows, mostly all the national acts, and it’s probably well over 100 a year inside alone. Outside, we average 35 shows.
What happened in 2008 when the current owner, developer Madison Marquette, came in?
2008 was the turning point. Gary Mottola, who’s with Madison [as president of property investments], just when the real estate market tanked, he said to the company, “Let’s go, let’s do this.” They threw $90 million at the boardwalk [after the crash], and that’s what turned Asbury Park around.
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes’ 1976 live broadcast really put the Stone Pony on the map.
No doubt about that, and it’s why he gets a lot of credit for the Pony being here. Not only is he a part of the history, but he has created moments for other people to create history. He’s a special guy; they’re a special band.
One thing that people get wrong is Springsteen did not get his start here — though he obviously helped put the Stone Pony on the map, too.
I always say Southside and Bruce made the Pony famous, not the other way around.
Springsteen’s a familiar face, too. He’ll play private benefits from time to time, he danced with Scialfa at a Quincy Mumford sound check in 2019, and he came to the memorial for longtime club fan Kerry Layton, whom many called “the Ambassador of the Stone Pony.”
Every time he’s there, it’s special. Especially when it’s just a regular moment, like him wanting to show Patti the new back bar, and that’s when the dance happened because Quincy Mumford was onstage sound-checking. Something that simple, like him wanting to show his wife how nice it looks in there, that was really cool.
A benefit show in 2003 for the Light of Day Foundation (which raises money to research cures for Parkinson’s disease and related illnesses) that featured (from left) Joe Grushecky, Bob Benjamin, Michael J. Fox and Bruce Springsteen.
John Cavanaugh
What do musicians playing the Stone Pony for the first time say to you or want to know about the venue?
It’s funny. During sound check, I’ll [sometimes] hear them doing a Bruce song that they don’t normally do. There’s nothing else they need or want to know. They’re here because of the history, and they want to be part of it. Every act that comes in here and adds to the history just keeps the legacy going.
The area has experienced two really tough times in recent years: Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and the coronavirus pandemic. The club helped build a sense of community in the aftermath of those two events.
It’s being a beacon of hope, a beacon of light in our town and on our shore. People say, “Is the Pony OK? OK! The Pony’s OK, I’m OK, we’ll get through it OK.” It mattered to a lot of people that it was still here after both terrible events.
What’s the Stone Pony’s role with the big festivals that come through?
We’re glad to be included. Stacie George, vp of Live Nation New York, was determined from the beginning to really make [the annual New Jersey LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration in Asbury Park] something. Up until then, it was maybe a show here or there, but this year we will have three or four solid days of Pride shows, and that has never happened before. Again, it’s history in the making, and I’m very proud that’s what’s happening. I’m glad the community has embraced the acts that have come here. [For] Sea.Hear.Now, we’ve had some legendary aftershows, and I’m glad that a festival like that is here. The people who run it [including Asbury Park-based music photographer Danny Clinch] are friends of ours, and they’re incredible people.
What’s the role of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park in 2024?
The future of the community has gotten so much brighter with new things coming through. The Pony is a symbol that we don’t have to let go of our past to embrace our future. The Pony is a symbol of both those things.
Chris Jordan is the music writer for the Asbury Park Press, which is part of the USA Today Network.
This story will appear in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Tyla was gearing up for her first world tour later this month, which included stops at festivals such as Coachella, but those bucket list accomplishments will be put on hold for now.
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The “Water” hitmaker announced on Thursday (March 7) that she’s canceling her North American and Europe tour dates and pulling out a handful of festivals.
Tyla penned a heartfelt letter to fan on Instagram, revealing that she’s been privately battling a health issue.
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She shared that her injury had “tragically worsened,” which forced her to cancel the trek altogether. The tour was slated to kick off in Oslow, Norway, on March 21, and then eventually make its way stateside in April, and wrapping up in May.
“As much as this is something I would rather have dealt with privately, it’s important that I share what I have to share with you today,” she wrote. “For the past year I’ve been silently suffering with an injury that has tragically worsened. I’ve seen doctors and specialists with high hopes but the pain has only become more agonizing as has the severity of the situation.
“I am absolutely heartbroken to have to say this but as of right now I won’t be able to proceed with the tour. In consulting with medical professionals it’s become increasingly clear that continuing any festival or tour dates would jeopardize my long-term health and safety.”
Tyla asked her Tygers not to “worry too much,” as they’ll still be seeing plenty of her around. “Just know when I’m back to performing pain free, I’m gonna be even more of a problem,” the Grammy-winning singer added in the caption. “It’s hard having to turn down opportunities you’ve been waiting your whole life for but God has his plan.”
While the amapiano-R&B sensation won’t be hitting the stage soon, that hasn’t slowed down Tyla’s album rollout, as her highly anticipated debut LP is slated to arrive on March 22.
Named one of Billboard‘s R&B/Hip-Hop Artists to Watch in 2024, the 22-year-old’s eponymous album will feature 14 tracks, including “Water” and the anthem’s Travis Scott-assisted remix.
Read Tyla’s post about her tour cancellation below:
Zach Bryan had a surprise for concertgoers who attended the opening show of his headlining The Quittin’ Time Tour on Tuesday night (March 5) at United Center in Chicago. Bryan welcomed Kacey Musgraves to join him to perform their Grammy-winning song “I Remember Everything” together live for the first time. Explore See latest videos, charts […]
Kid Cudi is hitting the road this summer. Mr. Rager will be traveling across the globe for the Insano World Tour, which he officially set in motion with an announcement on Wednesday (March 6).
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Cudder will kick off the tour in Austin, Texas, on June 28 and will hit select arenas across the country throughout the summer.
The Ohio native won’t be at it alone, as his “EVERYBODY LIKE” collaborator Pusha T will be joining him on the trek. Jaden Smith, EARTHGANG, Chelsea Pastel and Siena Bella will also be popping up to assist the tour on a handful of dates.
Among the 43 shows, Cudi is slated to bring the rage to New York City, Nashville, Philadelphia, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Detroit, his hometown of Cleveland, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas and Seattle, and wraps up the North American leg in Los Angeles on Aug. 30 at the Crypto.com Arena.
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Kid Cudi will head overseas for a slew of shows in quarter one of 2025, where he’ll hit London’s O2 Arena, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland and other cities in the U.K.
American Express pre-sale tickets are set to go on sale starting on March 12 at 10 a.m. local time, and March 13 for those looking to attend European shows. The general public will get in on the ticketing action on March 15 at the Insano Tour website.
Kid Cudi unleashed what he described as his most “powerful” project to date with INSANO in January, which featured guest appearances from Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, Young Thug, Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, Pharrell and the late XXXTentacion.
The LP debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200. He boosted INSANO with a deluxe edition of sorts where he added a handful of new songs last month for the NITRO MEGA version.
Find all of the dates for the Insano World Tour below.
North American Dates
June 28, 2024 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center +^
June 30, 2024 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center +^
July 3, 2024 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena +*
July 5, 2024 – Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena +*
July 6, 2024 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena +*
July 9, 2024 – Duluth, GA @ Gas South Arena +*
July 11, 2024 – Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena +*
July 13, 2024 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena +*
July 14, 2024 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center +*
July 17, 2024 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center +^
July 19, 2024 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena +^
July 20, 2024 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre +^
July 23, 2024 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden +^
July 24, 2024 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden +^
July 27, 2024 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena +*
July 28, 2024 – Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena +*
July 31, 2024 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse +*#!
Aug. 2, 2024 – Cincinnati, OH @ Heritage Bank Center +*#!
Aug. 7, 2024 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center +*
Aug. 9, 2024 – St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center +*
Aug. 11, 2024 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena +*
Aug. 14, 2024 – Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center +*
Aug. 16, 2024 – San Diego, CA @ Pechanga Arena +*
Aug. 17, 2024 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena +*
Aug. 20, 2024 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center +*
Aug. 22, 2024 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center +*
Aug. 24, 2024 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena +*
Aug. 25, 2024 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena +*
Aug. 28, 2024 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center +^
Aug. 30, 2024 – Los Angeles, CA @ Crypto.com Arena +^
Europe
Feb. 25, 2025 – Oslo, Norway @ Spektrum +
Feb. 27, 2025 – Hamburg, Germany @ Barclays Arena +
Feb. 28, 2025 – Berlin, Germany @ Uber Arena +
March 2, 2025 – Oberhausen, Germany @ Rudolf Weber-ARENA +
March 3, 2025 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome +
March 5, 2025 – Milan, Italy @ Forum Milano +
March 8, 2025 – Paris, France @ Accor Arena +
March 9, 2025 – Brussels, Belgium @ ING Arena +
March 12, 2025 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena +
March 14, 2025 – Birmingham, UK @ Resorts World Arena +
March 15, 2025 – Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live +
March 18, 2025 – London, UK @ The O2 +
+ PUSHA T* EARTHGANG^ Jaden# Chelsea Pastel! Siena Bella
This Blockbuster is also out of business. Busta Rhymes appears to have canceled all of the 21 dates that were set to be part of his North American Blockbusta Tour 2024.
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According to Busta’s Ticketmaster page as well as Live Nation’s event listings for each show, the 2024 North American trek, which was set to begin next week on March 13 in San Francisco and was produced by Live Nation and The Conglomerate Entertainment, will no longer be taking place.
“Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel your event. No action is required to obtain a refund,” the message on Live Nation reads in part.
Trending on Billboard
The 51-year-old hasn’t commented on his social media accounts about the canceled dates, but fans have flooded his comments wondering what happened to the North American trek.
Billboard has reached out to Busta Rhymes’ reps as well as Live Nation for comment. Neither Live Nation nor Ticketmaster have a reason for the tour cancellation listed on their websites.
The New York-bred rapper was slated to rumble through Hollywood, Phoenix, Denver, Toronto, Dallas, Miami Beach, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Detroit and more before wrapping up back home in NYC on April 21.
The tour was originally announced in November, and Busta Rhymes was coming off of providing support as an opening act on 50 Cent’s Final Lap Tour across the globe throughout 2023.
Busta also unleashed his latest body of work, BLOCKBUSTA, in November. It was loaded with superstar guest appearances including verses from Chris Brown, Burna Boy, Kodak Black, Coi Leray, BIA, Young Thug, DaBaby, T-Pain and more.
BLOCKBUSTA debuted at No. 42 on the Billboard 200, while reaching No. 10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Chris Brown is going to be dancing across the country again. The multi-hyphenate entertainer announced the North American 11:11 Tour on Tuesday (March 5). The 26-city trek will include support from emerging R&B singers Muni Long and Ayra Starr on select dates. Pre-sale tickets will be going on sale on Wednesday (March 6), and the […]