The Summer Walker Tour Saga, Explained
Summer Walker, one of the breakout artists of 2019, will only be performing at nine of the 29 originally-planned stops on her First and Last Tour, she announced on her social media yesterday. "I'm not going to be able to finish this tour, because it doesn't really coexist with my social anxiety and my introverted personality," she said. "I really hope that people understand and respect that, at the end of the day, I'm a person: I have feelings, I get tired, I get sad, and it's just a lot. I don't want to lose myself. I want to give y'all what I can."
Walker's debut studio album, Over It, was released last month, and has helped make her one of the most-streamed singers in the R&B genre. (In fact, Over It quickly became the most-streamed R&B album ever released by a woman, and Walker averages close to 10 million streams per month on Spotify.) She first blew up in October 2018, when her mixtape Last Day of Summer produced a number of hits, including "Girls Need Love," which was later remixed by Drake (of course).
Walker's announcement bookends what appears to be a difficult few weeks for the 23-year-old. On November 3, she posted some of her frustrations on Instagram: "I’ve decided y’all don’t deserve me lol I knew from day one I was to real for this shit. y’all can have the music & ima just head out. fuck the interviews, photo shoots, videos, & really the shows too. I’ll finish this tour out tho. I’m just a regular person, nothing more. lol people got this fame shit fucked up."
Something happened between November 3 and now that caused her to drastically pull back on the dates. One probable contributing factor is the criticism she's faced from fans for her alleged mood and demeanor during meet-and-greats—namely, that she apparently doesn't give hugs. As she (also) wrote on Instagram: "I’m an empath, and that transference of energy from that many people each day would literally KILL me."
While that supposed sixth sense/superpower is an interesting reason to opt out of hugs, not wanting to physically interact with dozens and dozens of strangers is totally understandable—as is Walker's desire to address her social anxiety. She's hardly the first musician to opt out of hugs during her meet-and-greets, as evidenced by the below shots of Avril Lavigne:
Fans are also mad that most of the remaining tour stops are in big cities, the implication being... that Walker still wants to make money at larger venues? Not necessarily a revolutionary idea. Respect everyone's privacy and personal space, including celebrities! And if you still want to catch Walker, these are the spots she's still scheduled to perform.
After years of enigmatic reclusiveness, the 32-year-old musician is, suddenly, participating in a practice we thought he never would: brand-building.
Originally Appeared on GQ
