The emergence of the highly contagious omicron variant has led to a spike in coronavirus infections across the U.S. at the start of 2022, with the number increasing every day — and as a result, COVID-19 continues to take its toll on the live music industry.
As announcements of cancellations and postponements roll in, we’re keeping track of the latest in this updating list. Below, find all the 2022 concerts and festivals that have been canceled or rescheduled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (These are listed in descending order of announcement, so find the latest cancellations at the very top.)
Willie Nelson
The country legend announced Feb. 15 that he was canceling several indoor concerts in an abundance of caution. “We are canceling our indoor headline shows until the COVID situation improves, as the safety of the audience and Willie and his touring personnel are of the utmost importance,” his rep said via a statement. “When we are able, we will look to make up shows when possible.”
Eddie Vedder
The Pearl Jam frontman told fans on Valentine’s Day that he was postponing two of his shows after a member of his touring team contracted COVID-19. “We have been following Covid protocols but still had a positive test in our touring party,” he shared. “The appropriate response is to postpone the next two shows. Everyone, please take care.”
Avril Lavigne
The artist shared bad news with her fans on Feb. 7, announcing that she would be postponing the European and U.K. leg of her 2022 tour to the following year. “I have to make the difficult decision to postpone this tour until 2023,” she wrote on social media. “Due to the on-going issues surrounding the pandemic, there are a series of travel and venue restrictions from country to country that have made the tour not possible to happen.”
Aerosmith
The rockers announced on Jan. 31 that they were nixing their summer European tour. “We have continued to monitor the ongoing COVID situation and with the related uncertainty around travel logistics and the continued presence of COVID restrictions and other issues, it has become clear that it will not be possible to go ahead with our summer shows in the region,” the group shared in a statement. “The health, safety and well being of our fans is our number one priority. We will be back to rock out with everyone and we hope to have some exciting news to announce soon.”
Elton John
The iconic artist announced Jan. 25 that he was postponing the Dallas dates of his farewell tour after contracting the virus. He shared in his Instagram stories: “Hi everyone, wanted to send a message to let you know that I have contracted COVID and so have had to reschedule my shows in Dallas.”
Måneskin
The rockers announced on Jan. 24, just days after their Saturday Night Live debut, that they were postponing their European tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We worked a lot for this tour and everything was set and ready to go but unfortunately in the last few days we had some bad news about the capacity of the venues,” they shared in a social media post. The group added that their decision was due to the constantly changing protocols in the various countries they had dates in, noting that it was difficult to put on a wide-scale tour with such challenges.
The Fugees
Lauryn Hill announced on Jan. 21 that the reunion tour was off. “The continued Covid pandemic has made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe,” she explained on Instagram. “An idea sparked to honor and celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Score but we see now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work.”
Adele
The pop star shared a tearful video Jan. 20 in which she announced that she was postponing her Las Vegas residency, which was scheduled to kick off the following day. “I’m so sorry, but my show ain’t ready,” she said. “We’ve tried absolutely everything that we can to pull it together in time and for it to be good enough for you, but we’ve been absolutely destroyed by delivery delays and COVID. Half my crew, half my team are down with COVID. They still are. And it’s been impossible to finish the show.”
Rage Against the Machine
The rockers announced on Jan. 20 that it was dropping off the Boston Calling lineup and once more delaying the start of their Public Service Announcement tour. The tour will now begin July 9 instead of March 31.
Roddy Ricch
The rapper revealed on Jan. 12 that he had to drop out of his scheduled Jan. 15 Saturday Night Live performance. “Due to recent COVID-19 exposure on my team and to keep everyone safe I won’t be able to perform on SNL this weekend,” he shared on Instagram Stories. “I’m working with the SNL team to lock in a new date though! LOVE [pray emoji] STAY SAFE.”
Dirty Honey and Mammoth
The groups postponed the start date of their joint tour nearly a month, from Jan. 28 to Feb. 20. “We take the health and safety of the bands, road crews, local venue staff and especially our fans very seriously,” they shared in a joint statement. “Due to an abundance of caution regarding the recent COVID surge, we have decided to postpone the start of the Young Guns tour.”
Blossoms
The indie band announced on Jan. 12 that it was postponing its European tour dates. “We’re really gutted to have to announce that, due to the current situation with COVID, our forthcoming dates in Germany, France, Belgium and Netherlands have been postponed and will no longer be happening in January and February,” they shared on social media.
Jason Isbell
Jason Isbell tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19 on Jan. 11 and canceled and rescheduled a series of shows as a result. “Got myself a breakthrough case of COVID,” Isbell told his fans via Twitter. “Lotta sinus drainage type stuff, scratchy in my throat and some muscle aches but no cough or breathing issues fyi. Boosted and very grateful for it.” Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit shows in Asheville, N.C., slated for Jan. 11-12, have been canceled. Concerts in Louisville (Jan. 14-15), Columbus, Ohio (Jan. 16), Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Jan. 17) and Wilmington, N.C. (Jan. 19) will be rescheduled. His next tour date will be Jan. 21 in Charlotte, N.C., with opener Adia Victoria.
The BPM Festival Costa Rica
Two days before it was scheduled to begin, organizers of The BPM Festival Costa Rica postponed the event. The festival had been scheduled to take place in the beach town of Tamarindo, Costa Rica from Jan. 12-18, 2022. Organizers have not yet published new dates. “After more than a year of planning and looking forward to welcoming you to our 15th anniversary edition, we sympathize with your sense of disappointment and frustration and are beyond heartbroken to share this news with you,” BPM organizers wrote in a statement.
Billy Joel
Billy Joel announced via Twitter that his Jan. 14 show Madison Square Garden will now be taking place on Aug. 24, making it the second postponement for the event. “Nothing is more important to me than the safety and well-being of my band, crew, and the fans; so due to unfortunate COVID-related circumstances, we made the decision to reschedule the January 14th concert at MSG,” Joel wrote.
Rina Sawayama
“Due to the ongoing restrictions resulting from the recent COVID surge, I’m having to cancel all my European dates in March this year. I was so excited to come play for you all, so this is hugely disappointing,” Sawayama shared via social media. The good news, she said, was that she promised she’ll return to the EU again “soon” with what she described as “a bigger show and new music (EEEEE).”
64th Annual Grammy Awards
The Recording Academy postponed the 64th annual Grammy Awards due to the spreading COVID-19 omicron variant, the organization announced. The event was originally set for Jan. 31 at CRYPTO.COM Arena in Los Angeles, but will now move to spring — possibly April — sources say. “After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community and our many partners, the Recording Academy and CBS have postponed the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards Show,” said a joint statement from the Recording Academy and CBS. “The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience, and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks. We look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night on a future date, which will be announced soon.”
Los Temerarios
In an official press release shared on their social media channels, Los Temerarios said that due to the “critical situation,” they decided to postpone their 2022 tour — which was set to kick off Feb. 4 — and move it to 2023. “At this moment, everyone’s health is top priority, and although we want to return to the stage and reunite with our fans, we don’t want to put anyone at risk,” the band, led by brothers Gustavo and Adolfo Angel, wrote.
Carlos Vives
Carlos Vives announced that his Después de todo … Vives tour, which kicked off in December and was set to pick up Jan. 13 in Seattle, was postponed until further notice.
David Lee Roth
The 66-year-old former Van Halen singer was slated to cap his career with a string of five farewell residency shows at Las Vegas’ House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in January after canceling his planned New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day shows at the venue due to the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant. The shows are now listed as “canceled” on the venue’s site, but Roth’s reps did announced on Dec. 30 that the New Year’s shows would be pushed to Feb. 11-12.
NEWS
Massive Attack have been using their latest live show to challenge American data analytics and software company Palantir, with the band describing the firm's ambitions as "terrifying".
The pioneering trip hop group have woven criticism of the controversial surveillance technology company into their new stage production. During their upcoming performance at Primavera Sound, they plan to deploy "custom-made facial recognition software" capable of "scanning a 75,000-person crowd" and projecting audience members onto giant screens with tongue in cheek labels such as "11 weeks no time off, burnout" and "unfinished books", according to Novara Media.
Speaking with the publication, the visual concept takes direct aim at Palantir, the company established two decades ago by billionaire Peter Thiel. Backed financially by the CIA, the firm counts the US and Israeli militaries, ICE, the FBI and the NHS among its clients.
After unveiling the production in Helsinki, Robert Del Naja told Novara Media that he wanted audiences to better understand how Palantir's reach has expanded from supplying "kill chain tech" reportedly used in Gaza to now having access to the medical records of people across Britain.
"We really need a much wider debate on the suitability of a company like this having such capture of our societal infrastructure," he said. He explained that the criticism is embedded throughout Massive Attack's two hour performance and was developed alongside long time collaborator Adam Curtis and London art collective United Visual Artists.
"One visual element represents how a Palantir Gotham monitoring and ‘decision chain’ interface might look," Del Naja explained. "Using facial recognition technology, it lands on groups and individuals – implying a consequential outcome for a given target."
Novara Media also detailed how Palantir's software can connect information from multiple databases. The outlet reported that ICE allegedly combines the platform with body camera footage, social media data and information gathered through Israeli developed hacking software Paragon to identify protesters involved in resistance to immigration raids.
The publication further claimed that Palantir contributes to Maven, a software platform used by the US military, which has recently faced criticism after being linked to the bombing of a girls' school in Iran.
"I find their declarations, objectives and moral framing pretty terrifying," Del Naja said. "To enable AI systems to map police records, satellite tracked locations, health records and personal financial transactions and place all of that information – for the first time – into the hands of a company with an overt political agenda and social objectives of its own is a huge, potentially irreversible and dangerous overreach."
Another moment in Massive Attack's current live production appears during the closing section of "Girl I Love You", when a quote from Peter Thiel is projected on screen reading: "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible".
Last year, Massive Attack introduced the satirical "facial recognition" sequence during their concerts and quickly rejected suggestions that genuine data recognition systems were being used on audiences.
"No Massive Attack live show has ever recorded or stored personal data," the group stated. "Only government departments, relevant authorities & approved contractors can access public databases in the UK, & doing so in multiple cities/countries would be impossible."
The band also pointed to the growing use of facial recognition technology across Britain, arguing that authorities are "overreaching almost all other western democracies with their use of public facial recognition … while there is no specific legislation regulating police use of these systems."
The statement arrived shortly after Massive Attack welcomed Kneecap onto the stage during their major show at the OVO Wembley Arena, introducing them as a group "who refused to be silenced for their solidarity with the Palestinian people."
Massive Attack have consistently spoken out in support of Palestine and a range of other progressive causes. More recently, they pledged to boycott Spotify following reports that CEO Daniel Ek had invested heavily "in a company producing military munition drones and AI technology integrated into fighter aircraft."
During their headline appearance at London's LIDO Festival last summer, the band were joined by actor and activist Khalid Abdalla along with Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def. Earlier this year, Del Naja also criticised what he described as a "draconian government" after being arrested while protesting the ban on Palestine Action.
The musician was one of hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in Trafalgar Square on April 11 to oppose the Palestine Action ban. He carried a placard stating "I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action".
Police removed him from the protest and arrested him on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed organisation. He later responded with an extensive statement posted to Instagram.
Back in February, the band revealed a small run of European dates for the summer. The tour began on May 27 at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki before continuing to Dalhalla in Rättvik on May 30.
The Bristol trip hop pioneers have not released new material since the 2020 EP "Eutopia". Their most recent studio album remains 2010's "Heligoland".
Speaking with NME in 2024, Robert Del Naja revealed that the band had "some new music which we've been sitting on for four years". He later shared in November that he hoped to finally release some of that material in 2026.
