The lead vocalist for the British rock band Coldplay has fallen ill with what the band termed “a serious lung infection,” forcing the band to cancel their upcoming shows in South America. The award-winning band was scheduled to perform this month in Brazil as part of their Music of the Spheres World Tour. They had eight shows scheduled in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
On Tuesday, the band announced on Twitter that they would be rescheduling Brazil’s shows to the beginning of 2023 to give Chris Martin, the lead vocalist, enough time to heal.
Coldplay said that the 45-year-old was under strict orders from his doctors to rest for at least three weeks.
The statement offered apologies to all the fans looking forward to the performances in Brazil, saying that the band was extremely sorry for the disappointment, but they needed to put Martin’s health first.
The band expressed their optimism that the singer’s health would significantly improve during his three-week medical leave and that they would be continuing their tour soon.
They reassured everyone who had purchased tickets to the canceled shows that they could still use the tickets for the rescheduled shows and that they would reimburse anyone who wanted refunds.
Currently, only the shows in Brazil have been canceled. The Coldplay website shows that the band will resume the Music of the Spheres tour on October 25, with ten shows scheduled in Buenos Aires and Argentina.
The Music of the Spheres world tour commenced in March 2022 and is Coldplay’s eighth concert tour. The band performed an incredible six-night stretch in August at the Wembley Stadium in London, which included supporting artists like H.E.R and London Grammar. The tour has brought in a gross of $179 million since it started.
In September, the band revealed that they almost canceled the entire tour due to a financial crisis. The band’s lead guitarist, Johnny Buckland, said they had faced a huge crisis as they tried to make the tour environmentally friendly. They experienced many difficulties when planning how to transport things around the world. It was the band’s first-time experiencing money problems and almost canceled the tour because they felt that the financial constraints were becoming unbearable.
Buckland said that they got help from unnamed sources, who essentially saved the tour. In an interview with Chris Martin on ColdplayXtra, an online source of news on the band, Buckland said that even though they sustained some losses, they were delighted that they could do the tour.
Chris Martin has not spoken about his illness outside Coldplay’s public announcement. Dakota Johnson, Martin’s girlfriend and the star of “50 Shades of Grey,” has not commented on his health issues.
Since its formation, Coldplay has put out nine albums and numerous hit songs and has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. The band has won many awards, including seven Grammys, seven Billboard Music Awards, seven MTV VMAs, and one American Music Award.
In September, Coldplay announced they wanted to bring the world tour to the big screen. They planned to broadcast one of their shows in Buenos Aires to different theaters in over 70 countries.