Getty Justin Bieber.
Justin Bieber suddenly announced that he has cancelled the last leg of his Purpose World Tour. The grueling tour schedule started back in March 2016 and still had another North American leg to go. The “What Do You Mean?” singer was also supposed to end the tour with stops in Asia.
Here’s the full statement from Bieber’s team. It doesn’t offer a specific explanation for his decision beyond “unforseen circumstances.”
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Justin Bieber will cancel the remainder of the Purpose World Tour concerts. Justin loves his fans and hates to disappoint them. He thanks his fans for the incredible experience of the Purpose World Tour over last 18 months. He is grateful and honored to have shared that experience with his cast and crew for over 150 successful shows across 6 continents during this run. However, after careful consideration he has decided he will not be performing any further dates. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.
A source told TMZ that the 23-year-old Bieber was “just over it.” He only had 15 dates left and was on an extended break after performing in London on July 2. Bieber also performed at the One Love Manchester tribute show in honor of the victims of the Manchester terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande show. Both Grande and Beiber and managed by Scooter Braun.
TMZ later posted a video apology from Bieber, who insisted that he needs “resting” and is “getting some realization.”
Braun also posted a statement on Instagram, with an apology to those who had tickets to the cancelled shows.
“To those that won’t be able to see it… on behalf of myself, Justin, and the team, we are sorry,” Braun wrote. “That was never our intent. But a man’s soul and well being I truly care about came first and We must all respect and honor that. Justin will be back and I know he looks forward to performing for you and with you all again.”
The North American dates cancelled are:
July 29 – Arlington, Texas
August 6 – Pasadena, California
August 12 – Denver, Colorado
August 18 – Minneapolis, Minnesota
August 23 & 24 – East Rutherford, New Jersey
August 29 – Foxborough, Massachusetts
September 5 & 6 – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Bieber was then scheduled to go on another break before heading to Asia. Those dates were:
September 23 & 24 – Tokyo, Japan
September 27 – Hong Kong
September 30 – Santa Maria, The Philippines
October 7 – Singapore
October 10 – Jakarta, Indonesia
Bieber already performed in Minneapolis, Denver and Toronto, although at different venues, during the first North American leg of the tour. He also already performed in the Boston and New York metropolitan areas.
The sudden decision to stop touring follows the Chinese government’s decision over the weekend to ban Bieber from performing in the country. According to the New York Times, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture cited Bieber’s past bad behavior as the reason.
“Justin Bieber is a gifted singer, but he is also a controversial young foreign singer,” the bureau stated. “In order to maintain order in the Chinese market and purify the Chinese performance environment, it is not suitable to bring in badly behaved entertainers. We hope that as Justin Bieber matures, he can continue to improve his own words and actions, and truly become a singer beloved by the public.”
Since Hong Kong has a special relationship with the Chinese government and has its own government, Bieber’s performance there was not impacted by the ban. He could have performed there if the rest of the tour wasn’t cancelled.
Bieber began his Purpose tour in March 2016 to promote his 2015 album of the same name. In April, Billboard reported that the Purpose tour grossed $200 million, with 2.2 million tickets sold worldwide.
Pollstar reported that Bieber’s shows since January 2017 have grossed a combined $93.2 million, with an average ticket price of $93.60. He’s the third-highest grossing act of 2017 after Guns N’ Roses and U2.
