AJR pulls out as Jimmy Buffett's Summerfest replacement: 'A horrible, insane, scary year'

AJR will no longer headline Milwaukee’s Summerfest July 6 − a show announced just this week as a fill in for a canceled Jimmy Buffett gig − nor will they open for Imagine Dragons at the same venue, the American Family Insurance Amphitheater, for the festival’s closing night July 8.

The band of brothers −Adam, Jack and Ryan Metzger −has a good and sad reason for scrapping the shows, and other planned appearances in July: Their father is seriously ill.

“For a year now, our Dad has been getting sicker and sicker. It’s been a horrible, insane, scary, beautiful year, and in the short future, it feels like our time with Gary might soon be over,” the band posted on their Facebook page Saturday. “We hope you guys can understand, we gotta cancel the upcoming July shows and spend as much time with him as possible. … We’re all lucky to have had the best Dad ever, and to have known such a caring, generous, loving human being. Love you guys so much, and speak soon.”

Taylor Swift setlist: Here are all 44 songs on her epic Eras tour

All previously purchased tickets for AJR’s headlining show July 6 at Summerfest will be refunded. The Imagine Dragons show July 8 is still scheduled but there's no word yet if a new opener will be booked.

AJR was announced as an opener for Dragons last year, but Summerfest officials didn’t announce the pop band’s own headlining show until last Tuesday.

Jimmy Buffett cancels concert: 'Margaritaville' singer hospitalized for 'issues that need immediate attention'

That’s because Jimmy Buffett was scheduled to headline the amphitheater July 6. But tickets for the ultimately canceled Buffett date never went on sale. In May, Buffett had to postpone a show after he was hospitalized. He has yet to resume touring.

Buffett never commented on the scrapped Summerfest show but festival officials said the appearance wasn’t happening “due to circumstances out of our control.”

There’s no word yet if Summerfest’s talent team will be able to announce a new amphitheater show for July 6 − but considering it’s less than a week away, the odds are not good.

If indeed the venue goes dark during Summerfest, it will be only the third time that’s happened, excluding the canceled Summerfest in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Megadeth canceled an amphitheater show in 2019 just days ahead of the scheduled show, and Justin Bieber did the same in 2022, both for health reasons.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: AJR cancels as Jimmy Buffett's Summerfest replacement, here's why