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Justin Bieber postpones remaining Justice tour dates

Justin Bieber has postponed the remaining dates of his ‘Justice’ world tour due to ongoing health issues.

The singer recently returned to touring after overcoming his battle with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which for weeks left the entire right side of his face paralysed and forced him to postpone a number of North America tour dates.

Yesterday (6 September), Bieber issued a statement through TMZ which has been confirmed by Variety, stating that he needed to take a break from performing “to make my health the priority right now”.

“Earlier this year, I went public about my battle with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, where my face was partly paralysed. As the result of this illness, I was not able to complete the North America leg of the Justice Tour,” he wrote.

“After resting and consulting with my doctors, family and team, I went to Europe in an effort to continue with the tour. I performed six live shows, but it took a real toll on me. This past weekend, I performed at Rock In Rio and I gave everything I have to the people in Brazil.

“I’m going to be ok, but I need time to rest and get better”

“After getting off stage, the exhaustion overtook me and I realised I need to make my health the priority right now. So I’m going to take a break from touring for the time being. I’m going to be ok, but I need time to rest and get better. I’ve been so proud to bring this show and our message of Justice to the world. Thank you for your prayers and support throughout all of this! I love you all passionately.”

The tour has an additional 70 concerts scheduled from now until March 2023, with legs in South America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Speaking to IQ earlier this summer, AEG Presents promoter Simon Jones said ticket sales for the 130-date world tour had surpassed 1.5 million outside North America.

The Justice run is Bieber’s first global outing since 2016/2017’s Purpose world tour, which grossed $257 million, attracting 2,805,481 fans across 141 shows, according to Pollstar.

 


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AEG’s Simon Jones talks Bieber tour, ’22 prospects

Ticket sales for Justin Bieber’s 130-date Justice world tour have now reached 1.5 million outside North America, according to Simon Jones of promoter AEG Presents.

The 2022/23 global trek, which launched at San Diego’s Pechanga Arena in February, will cover six continents, with additional shows recently announced in Dubai, Bahrain, Sydney, New Delhi, Manila, Amsterdam, London and Dublin.

“We’ve gradually added additional regions over the past six months, and have now added every city that will be included,” Jones tells IQ. “It’s quite the juggernaut covering a lot of ground. I think you can safely say that Justin is one of the top global touring artists in the world.”

The biggest worldwide tour since the Covid shutdown lands in Europe next month with a stop at Italy’s Lucca Summer Festival before continuing on to Scandinavia for shows in August. Bieber then heads to South America, South Africa and the Middle East in September and October, closing out the year in Asia, Australia and New Zealand before moving to the UK in early 2023.

“The most challenging part has been traversing the very slow and gradual opening up of markets in Asia”

“Other than the ridiculous challenge of venue availability in major markets, the most challenging part has been traversing the very slow and gradual opening up of markets in Asia,” explains Jones, who was named Promoters’ Promoter at the recent Arthur Awards.

“[AEG Asia Pacific chief] Adam Wilkes and I, and our Asia team have spent many hundreds of hours planning the roll out of the recently launched Asia leg together. The appetite for Justin in that region has been frankly incredible, and we’ve mostly been capitalising on each countries ‘freedom day’ so to speak, so it has been a slow roll out, and thankfully we’re working with a very flexible artist team to help us do that.”

The Justice run is Bieber’s first global outing since 2016/2017’s Purpose world tour, which grossed $257 million, attracting 2,805,481 fans across 141 shows, according to Pollstar. Pre-pandemic, he had been due to tour in 2020 and launched his Changes album with a one-off fan event at the 2,800-cap Indigo at The O2 in London that February.

“The underplay acoustic show that we did in London for the launch of Changes, just before the pandemic hit, showed him to be in a great place: energised and eager to get into the campaign until the breaks were firmly put on for obvious reasons.

“It’s quite amazing to think that that was actually the only live show for the whole Changes campaign. But seeing this Justice tour play out, it’s incredible how much he is at the top of his game right now.”

“It’s no longer the parents buying their kids the majority of the tickets”

AEG’s SVP of international touring, Jones has worked with Bieber since 2015 and points out the 28-year-old Canadian’s audience base has broadened significantly over the years.

“It’s no longer the parents buying their kids the majority of the tickets,” he notes. “You could see that during Purpose that the songs he was releasing were reaching a mass audience. He’s taken those fans with him for his latest two records, and the mass appeal for his latest record will bring with it a slightly older crowd, but the consistent rate that he releases global smash songs reach new fans all the time, including new young fans too.”

While Bieber’s touring career continues to go from strength to strength, Jones admits to concerns over the market as a whole – particularly with regards to acts lower down the food chain.

“Cost of living rises will hit live music as it has every other area, so we are likely to see an increase in ticket prices”

“We have some headaches and challenges to deal with for sure,” he says. “The huge amount of choice out there this year and next, the saturation rate is hitting a point where something will have to give – everyone will need to work harder to make sure we do the business that’s required and fans will want more value for money from shows than ever before.

“Cost of living rises will hit live music as it has every other area, so we are likely to see an increase in ticket prices. That will manifest itself by people becoming much choosier on who they spend their hard earned cash on, so maybe they’ll go to less shows on an average year, but they’ll likely spend more money per head at each show on the bar, merch, etc, as it may subconsciously be their big night out that they plan further ahead for.”

He concludes: “One thing’s for sure, that for the right artist, whether it be AAA*-level artists, for brand new red hot acts, and for the perfectly timed nostalgic plays; the business is still there, and alive and kicking. But extra care and thought from promoters, agents and managers needs to put into all other levels of artists, as nothing can be assumed or expected, or taken for granted, as it’s a very unpredictable landscape at the moment.”

 


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Bieber stadium gig confirmed as Malaysia opens up

Justin Bieber has confirmed his first concert in Malaysia in a decade as the country prepares to reopen its international borders on 1 April.

The singer will appear at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on 22 October as part of a newly announced leg of his Justice World Tour.

The venue, which is situated to the south of Kuala Lumpur, has previously welcomed artists such as Ed Sheeran, Linkin Park, Paramore, Kelly Clarkson and Usher.

Malaysia’s prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced earlier this month that quarantine-free travel and tourism would be allowed as part of a “transition phase” towards treating Covid-19 as endemic.

“it’s such a surreal feeling that we are able to make this announcement today, after a two-year pause”

“It’s such a surreal feeling that we are able to make this announcement today, after a two-year pause,” says Para R, MD of promoter PR Worldwide. “We are proud to bring the highly anticipated Justice World Tour to Malaysian fans this October.”

The tour is Bieber’s first global outing since 2016/2017’s Purpose world tour, which grossed $257 million, attracting 2,805,481 fans across 141 shows, according to Pollstar. Tickets for his return to Malaysia are priced between RM288 (€62) and RM1,088 (€234) and go on sale 31 March.

Bieber last performed in the country for an MTV World Stage event held at Sunway Lagoon, Kuala Lumpur in 2012. The Canadian singer will tour five continents from May 2022 to March 2023, travelling to over 20 countries for more than 90 dates. He has also added a 3 November date in Jakarta, Indonesia at the Gelora Bung Karno Madya Stadium.

PR Worldwide partnered with Live Nation in 2019 and has worked on tours and shows by acts including Bruno Mars, Lewis Capaldi, Charlie Puth, Ed Sheeran, Mariah Carey, Imagine Dragons and Shawn Mendes.

 


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Justin Bieber tour nears one million ticket sales

AEG Presents has revealed Justin Bieber’s 2022/23 Justice world tour is on track to sell more than one million tickets.

The Canadian singer will tour five continents from May 2022 to March 2023, travelling to over 20 countries for more than 90 dates, with extra shows to be announced in Japan, Asia and the Middle East.

A total of 875,000 tickets have been sold since last month’s tour announcement. Thirty-one of the newly announced shows sold out on the morning of the on-sale, with additional nights added in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Paris, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Mexico City.

To see how fast the tickets are flying out the door is testament to his status as one of the world’s biggest live music draws

“Justin’s return to the international stage is going to be a juggernaut of a run, and to see how fast the tickets are flying out the door is testament to his status as one of the world’s biggest live music draws,” says Simon Jones, SVP, international touring of promoter AEG Presents. “His Justice world tour is expanding further, and is going to comfortably smash through the million ticket mark once we announce the remaining territories.”

The new dates also come on the heels of Bieber’s recently announced 52-date 2022 North American tour, which kicks off in San Diego on February 18.

The tour is Bieber’s first global outing since 2016/2017’s Purpose world tour, which grossed $257 million, attracting 2,805,481 fans across 141 shows, according to Pollstar.

Bieber also headlined Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball with Barclaycard at The O2 in London on Saturday (11 December).

 


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