R&B fans have been left gutted as Usher has scrapped a dozen live shows.
The singer, who played a series of gigs at London’s O2 earlier this year, has cancelled plans for his entire Australia tour in November and December, which he only announced eight weeks ago.
The shows would have marked the 46-year-old star’s first performances Down Under in over a decade.
He was due to perform six shows each at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena and the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
A statement on Ticketek’s website reads: ‘The promoter of USHER’s Australian Tour regrets to advise that the scheduled shows to take place in November/ December, will no longer be proceeding.’
The ticket outlet has confirmed ‘all tickets purchased’ will automatically gets ‘refunded in full to the original payment method used’.
Fans have been left heartbroken over the sudden and vague announcement.
‘Why’d Usher cancel his Australia tour? 😭 least we’re getting a refund for the tix but still 💔,’ wrote @Arty_k7 on X.
Replying to an unrelated post on Instagram, @jordonovington asked: ‘Why has this Australian Tour been cancelled this far in advance???
‘Been waiting forever to see you in concert and now it’s been cancelled.’
‘Same! So sad. I’ve booked flight tickets and accommodation in Sydney for the show,’ added @ixa_rocha, while another fan, @jaysie.kemso, said: ‘Same 🙁 cancelled with no explanation.’
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Usher’s most recent headline tour in Australia was the OMG tour in 2011, while he last performed in the country in 2018.
That time, he joined Salt-N-Pepa, T-Pain and Naughty By Naughty on the RNB Fridays Live tour.
He kicked off his current tour in August last year, and moved onto play in the UK and across Europe.
When the Confessions hitmaker announced the tour dates in early May, he insisted he wants ‘to retire’ Down Under one day.
‘I can’t wait to bring this tour to Australia, a place where I hope to retire in the future,’ he said in a statement. ‘See you soon!’
It’s not the first time Usher has cancelled dates on his tour.
In August last year, he scrapped the opening date of the run, before postponing two hometown shows in Atlanta, Georgia.
‘Earlier this week, I suffered an injury to my neck while rehearsing to provide my fans with the greatest USHER show of all time,’ he wrote on social media at the time.
‘My hope was that with physical therapy and medical treatment, I would be able to overcome the injury and be ready for opening night.
‘Unfortunately, the injury has not healed yet, and my doctors have instructed me not to perform any shows this week.’
There is currently no explanation for the cancelled Australia run.
Metro has contacted representatives for Usher and Live Nation for comment.
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