Electronic dance musician Kelly Lee Owens announced today that her European tour dates this fall are canceled, citing the coronavirus. “The main reason is of course the ongoing pandemic,” the Welsh singer/producer wrote on Twitter. “That plus the anxiety of dealing with individual countries in a post-Brexit touring world and the extra fees etc that come with that.”
She continued, “Both of these things combined have thrown up a huge amount of anxiety for me. I don’t cancel things lightly, but I have to look after myself […] This past year has been disappointing for me, as it means everything to play to you guys, and to never have played [2020 album] Inner Song even once yet is super painful.”
Cancelling my 2021 European tour. pic.twitter.com/64KRwCRNbM
— Kelly Lee Owens (@kellyleeowens) June 14, 2021
Owens’ newly announced North American tour dates have not been affected. Check out the full list of those tour dates here.
While the rate of coronavirus infections throughout Europe has continued to drop dramatically, per The Guardian, the World Health Organization (WHO) projected that the continent could see another wave of the disease in the autumn due to the highly transmissible Delta variant. According to WHO’s Europe director, the Delta variant has shown some resistance to the coronavirus vaccines.
Countries such as France and Germany are easing travel restrictions for those who are fully vaccinated this summer, but WHO warns that such easing could be reversed if infection rates show signs of rebounding.
For this reason, musicians like Owens are cautiously returning to live music on a short-term, month-by-month basis. Read Owens’ full statement above.
