With almost 100,000 cases of the coronavirus reported worldwide, the global economy is continuing to incur damage, and the live music industry is one of its largest casualties.
Below is a list of major festivals and tours that have been postponed, canceled or affected in other ways by the outbreak.
Festivals
SXSW announced on Friday that it has officially been canceled."I've gone ahead and declared a local disaster in the city, and associated with that have issued an order that effectively cancels South by Southwest this year," Austin Mayor Steve Adler told reporters Friday.
The music and film festival was scheduled March 13-22. Days before the announcement, major corporate players had ceased involvement with this year’s festival, including Google, Netflix, Amazon, IBM, WarnerMedia (and its subsidiaries, CNN and HBO), Audible, LinkedIn and TikTok. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey canceled his scheduled engagement as a keynote speaker.
On Feb. 20, the California-based Overpass Music Festival announced its cancellation.
Miami’s Ultra Music Festival announced that its 2020 installment would be postponed, as did that city's Calle Ocho festival. A satellite festival under the Ultra umbrella — located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — was canceled.
Tomorrowland Winter, a festival set to run March 14-21 at a French ski resort, was canceled because of a local spread of COVID-19, the infectious respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
Tours
Green Day have postponed their Asian tour because of what the band cited on Twitter as “health + travel concerns with the coronavirus.”Avril Lavigne canceled a string of shows in cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Nanjing, Osaka and Taipei. “Please everybody take care of yourselves and stay healthy,” the pop-punk singer-songwriter said in a statement on Twitter. “You’re in my thoughts and prayers and we are hoping to announced [sic] rescheduled shows soon.”
K-pop boyband BTS have canceled four April shows scheduled to take place in their hometown of Seoul, South Korea. More than 5,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the country.
Iowa nu-metal outfit Slipknot have postponed an upcoming Asian tour, which included the artist-curated Knotfest Japan.
Reggaeton sensation Maluma postponed a concert in Milan, Italy, to March 31. No other tour dates have been affected, Billboard reports.
On Jan. 28, X Ambassadors announced that their February shows in Shanghai and Chengdu were canceled.
K-pop band GOT7 canceled three shows in Thailand and Singapore.
Another K-pop boyband, AB6IX, rescheduled dates in China and Japan.
Stormzy, the moniker of U.K. grime artist Michael Owuo, postponed gigs in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
Another British artist, Yungblud, canceled a string of shows in Asia.
New Order canceled a March 6 show in Osaka.
Gothic metal band Lacuna Coil have canceled Asian and Australian shows.
Mariah Carey postponed a March 10 concert in Honolulu because of what she cited as “international travel restrictions” stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.
Louis Tomlinson canceled a show in Milan. "I was really excited to bring the Walls Tour to Italy, but the health and safety of my fans is more important than anything else,” said the former One Direction member on Twitter.
A series of Pixies shows in Japan and China have been canceled. While some artists are canceling Australian tour dates amid COVID-19 concerns, the band’s Auckland, New Zealand, show is still on the books.
