Reba McEntire Delays Start of Arena Tour Until Summer Over Coronavirus Concerns

Add Reba McEntire to the lengthy list of artists who changing their tour schedule over coronavirus concerns. McEntire just announced she will delay the start of her Live in Concert 2020 Tour to July 9, instead of kicking off next week.

"For the safety of everyone, we have decided to postpone our new arena tour until July," McEntire said in a statement. "All tickets will be honored for the new dates. Most importantly, stay safe and take care of you and your loved ones. We'll get through this together." McEntire's fans were quick to respond after the country music icon also shared the news on social media.

"Thank you Reba for caring," one fan wrote. "Thank you Reba, we all love you. Stay safe," said another. "Knew you would make the right decision!" one person tweeted in reply. "Stay safe and praying for all that this virus ends soon."

The tour was to begin not long after McEntire announced her return to her former record label home, Universal Music Group, where she plans to release her next album. "It's a wonderful feeling to be back with the family where I started," McEntire said when making the announcement. "A full-circle moment. I am thrilled because my catalog is here at Universal, and I'm really excited to revisit all of the songs that I recorded many years ago and work with a team that's so excited about my songs as I am.

"We're gonna have a lot of fun," she added. "It's gonna be very interesting to see what you can do with songs in 2020 as opposed to back 30, 40 years ago. I'm really looking forward to it. It's gonna be exciting."

Other artists who have altered their tour plans over the coronavirus pandemic include Chris Stapleton, Dan + Shay, and Kenny Chesney, among others.

"You can't take risks without really understanding the consequences," Chesney said in a statement. "In times of uncertainty, I won't take chances with those I love. I can't imagine, as much as we love being out there playing for the fans, being able to do that through the worry our nation is experiencing.

"So, while we wait to see how this terrible virus is going to impact our country, I think it's only fair to move these first several dates now," he continued. "We are figuring some of this out as we go, but I know people buy airline tickets, book hotel rooms – and I wanted to try to give everyone as much time to sort that out as possible."

Updates to McEntire's schedule can be found on her website.