Green Day Cancels Tour Dates in Asia Due to Coronavirus

Audrey Cleo Yap
·2 min read

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Green Day has canceled scheduled tour dates in Asia due to the coronavirus epidemic. The band’s Hella Mega tour would have taken them throughout the continent in March — and in countries with confirmed cases of the virus — starting in Singapore and stopping in Bangkok, Manila, Taipei, Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka and Tokyo.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees — who released their 13th studio album “Father of All Motherf–kers” on Feb. 7 — released a statement which reads: “We have unfortunately made the difficult decision to postpone our upcoming shows in Asia due to the health + travel concerns with coronavirus. We know it sucks, as we were looking forward to seeing you all, but hold on to your tickets we’ll be announcing the new dates very soon.“

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It is unclear if Green Day will continue with the European leg of their tour, which would kick off in Moscow in May. It includes stops in Helsinki, Stockholm, Berlin and London before ending in Dublin in June. Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Manic Street Preachers are among the bands slated to share the stage with the East Bay punk rockers on that leg.

The coronavirus epidemic originated in Wuhan, China. While spread of the virus in China has slowed, it continues to affect other countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among the Asian countries and locations affected include the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea, with Japan experiencing an uptick in cases most of them linked to a quarantined cruise ship. News of cases in Italy, Iran and the United States has also been reported.

The five-time Grammy winners are not the only musical act to change their tour plans due to the epidemic. Several K-pop acts have canceled or postponed concerts — most notably, BTS, which today announced the cancellation of its S. Korea shows in April.

Since the Chinese government acknowledged the outbreak in January, its impact has spread to the film industry. Chinese filmmakers pulled several releases slated for the normally busy Chinese New Year. The new James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” canceled its Beijing premiere and promotional tour with the cast in April. And the actions aren’t linmited to the Far East — earlier on Thursday, Facebook called off its F8 developers conference scheduled for May 5-6 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif.

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