Elton John Reschedules Show After Abrupt Last Minute Cancellation for Illness

Elton John has rescheduled two Florida concerts that he was forced to cancel due to an ear infection

The 71-year-old singer’s sold-out Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour stop at Amway Center was called roughly 30 minutes after the scheduled show time Tuesday evening, followed by the cancellation of his upcoming concert in Tampa, Florida. Now, the singer has announced that both tour dates will be rescheduled.

The new shows will be pushed to 2019, with John returning to Orlando on March 18 and Tampa on Nov. 4. Making the announcement via a tweet, it was also announced that original tickets will be honored.

The singer had faced backlash from fans after calling off his Orlando stop nearly a half-hour after he was scheduled to take the stage, with many taking to Twitter to share pictures of the crowded arena, criticize John and his team for not making the decision to cancel earlier, and accuse the singer of wasting their time and money.

John responded to the backlash by issuing a statement just a day later, addressing the show’s cancellation and fan disappointment.

“We are sincerely sorry to everyone due to attend the shows in Orlando last night and Tampa tonight. Elton has been on a course of antibiotics to combat an ear infection and it was expected that these would clear the infection in time to play the Orlando show,” the statement, posted to Twitter, read. “Elton had traveled to the venue but after further consultation with doctors before he took the stage, the decision had to be taken on their advice that unfortunately he still wasn’t well enough to perform.”

“Elton and his band play 100 percent live and with impaired hearing and ear pain he wouldn’t have been able to deliver the performance his fans deserve,” the statement continued, revealing that the fans wouldn’t miss out completely on their chance to see him live in concert. “He will take a couple of days rest to allow the infection to clear up and both [shows] will be rescheduled as soon as possible.”

John is scheduled to resume his tour Friday in Atlanta, where is he set to perform two sold-out performances. The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, scheduled to run through 2020, will finish this year with dates in Birmingham, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas before concluding in London in December of 2020.