Garth Brooks, the historic country singer and previous American Songwriter Magazine cover star, has officially announced the cancellation of the remaining handful of tour dates on his 2021 schedule.
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Those five dates, one of which was itself rescheduled after a July rainout, include an planned upcoming Nashville gig as well as stops in Cincinnati on Sept. 18, Charlotte on Sept. 25, Baltimore on Oct. 2, and Boston on Oct. 9.
Brooks, the subject of a popular 2019 Netflix doc, says that rising cases of COVID-19 were the impetus. Ticketmaster will reportedly issue full refunds.
“I have asked the wonderful cities of Cincinnati and Charlotte to wait too long and I don’t want to now do that same thing to the great folks in Boston and Baltimore,” Brooks said in his statement. “As far as Nashville, we are looking for a make up date from the July rain out and though this is not COVID related, to make them wait makes me sad, as well. So, it is with a heavy heart we announce the decision to cancel all 5 shows but with a hopeful heart, we will reschedule and start over when this wave seems to be behind us.”
A COVID-19 wary Brooks added: “I’m sincerely hoping we are back on tour before the year’s end. With that said, the most important thing to me is fulfilling my end of the Stadium Tour by making sure every show is doable before putting tickets on sale.”
Brooks’ announcement comes on the heels of many venues and music industry pillars like AEG and Live Nation announcing policies on vaccination cards and/or negative test mandates for patrons to enter indoor venues.
