Morgan Wallen Cancels 6 Weeks of Shows on Voice Doctor’s Orders: ‘I Hate It’
Morgan Wallen shared some hard news with fans on Tuesday morning (May 9) in an Instagram video in which he revealed that he needs to take six weeks off from his current tour. “I’m just gonna go ahead and get straight to it. I got some bad news from my doctors at the Vanderbilt Voice Center yesterday. After taking 10 days of vocal rest I performed three shows last weekend in Florida and by the third one I felt terrible,” the singer said.
“So I went in and go scoped yesterday and they told me that I re-injured my vocal cords and that I have vocal fold trauma,” he added, swallowing hard. Wallen said his doctor’s advice was that he go on vocal rest for six weeks. “So that’s what I’m gon’ do,” he said, noting that that his team advised him not to talk at all, but that if he needed to it was okay for something like his announcement.
He added that he tore his lat muscle while on tour in Australia and while he’s been trying to work through that injury in private, the upcoming time off should help with that issue as well. Wallen said his team is almost finished rescheduling all his current and upcoming dates, with news about all the shows expected soon. Following last week’s trio of shows in Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Tampa, Wallen was not scheduled to perform again until a May 18 gig at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, PA.
In addition to two shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, Wallen had gigs on tap in Austin and Houston, TX on May 24 and 26, a pair of shows in Atlanta on June 2-3, an appearance at the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City Beach, FL, two shows at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, VA on June 8-9 and a June 10 spot at the Carolina Country Music Fest in Myrtle Beach, SC on June 10. The singer was booked to play a series of stadium shows in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit through the end of June. At press time spokespeople for Wallen had not announced which shows have been impacted or potential replacement dates.
In addition to his headlining shows, Wallen is also forced to bow out of the Thursday’s (May 11) ACM Awards and the ACM’s Lifting Lives event on Wednesday (May 10), where he was slated to take the stage alongside Hardy, Lainey Wilson, Ernest and Bailey Zimmerman at the annual charity function for those struggling with health issues.
“They told me that if I do this the right way, I’ll get back to 100% and they also said that if I don’t listen and I keep singing, then I’ll permanently damage my voice,” Wallen said of his doctor’s advice. “So for the longevity of my career, this is just a choice I had to make. I hate it. But I love you guys, and I appreciate all the support that you always give me.”
According to a release from Wallen’s spokesperson, tickets for the original dates will be honored for all rescheduled performances and a 30-day refund window will open at the point of purchase when the new dates are announced; missed festival dates will be rescheduled for 2024.
Wallen made news last month after canceling a planned show at Oxford, MS’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on April 23 after his opening acts performed and just moments before he was to take the stage. “I thought I was going to be good to go and I just wasn’t,” he said in a message to the 60,000 disappointed fans who were sent home that night without seeing him.
See Wallen’s Instagram statement below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
