Kid Cudi cancels world tour after Coachella injury
American rapper Kid Cudi has cancelled his Insano: Engage the Rage World Tour after breaking his foot during a last-minute Coachella performance on Sunday (21 April).
During his set at the Goldenvoice-promoted festival’s Sahara Tent, the 40-year-old singer jumped off the front of the stage, breaking one of his heel bones and cutting his set short. He joined the lineup two days before the second weekend kicked off on 19 April.
The recovery time for a severe calcaneus fracture can be up to two years, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, with those with labour-intensive jobs “unable to return to their job” post-injury.
“We have to cancel the tour so I can focus on getting better to be out there in top shape with you all,” he wrote on social media. “There’s just no way I can bounce back in time to give 100%. The injury is much more serious than I thought.”
Cudi (real name Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi) underwent surgery for the broken bone today (25 April), telling fans on X that he was “feelin’ good”. Most surgery patients need to wait three months post-surgery before putting weight onto the foot, with walking aids likely during the healing process, per the AAOS.
“I’ll make it up to you and be back better than ever very soon”
The AEG-promoted tour was set to begin on 28 June at Texas’s Moody Center (15,000), with stops at New York City’s Madison Square Garden (19,500), Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena (19,800), and Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena (18,300), before wrapping up the North American leg at Los Angeles’s Crypto.com Arena (20,000) at the end of August.
The European leg was due to start next February at Oslo’s Spektrum Arena (10,300) and set to end at London’s O2 Arena (20,000) on 18 March 2025.
Rapper Pusha T was due to support the 43-date tour, alongside rapper-actor Jaden and hip-hop duo EARTHGANG. Ticketholders will be notified and refunded, and new tour dates will be announced as soon as possible.
German singer Kim Petras has also cancelled forthcoming festival dates because of “health issues”. The Grammy-award-winning pop star was set to appear at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound, London’s Mighty Hoopla, Porto’s Primavera, and Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party this summer.
“I’ll make it up to you and be back better than ever very soon,” she wrote on social media.
Petras concluded her Feed the Beast World Tour in March, her third headlining venture, which kicked off last August in California. She played venues across the US, Canada, Brazil, and Europe before closing it out at Milan’s Fabrique (3,100).
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Kid Cudi’s AR live performance app raises $9m
Encore, the live performance app co-founded by American rapper Kid Cudi, has raised US$9 million (€7.9m) in seed funding.
The raise was led by Battery Ventures, and other investments came from 468 Capital, Parade Ventures, Nomad Ventures, Moving Capital, Kayak Ventures, and Gaingels.
The Encore Studio: Live Music AR app enables artists to create and perform live in custom Augmented Reality environments from their mobile device.
Fans participate via gamified microtransactions in the form of a ten-cent clap, which can be used to watch live shows, chat with an artist, and interact.
While in private beta, hundreds of artists including SSGKobe, The Cool Kids, Too $hort, and DC the Don have created and performed shows on Encore, attended by tens of thousands of fans who have collectively clapped almost a million times.
“We created Encore as a space for artists to share their art, build community, while also being able to pay their rent”
“My number one priority has always been inspiring others and providing them with the space to tell their own stories in an authentic and meaningful way,” says Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi.
“We created Encore as a space for artists to share their art, build community, while also being able to pay their rent.”
Jonathan Gray, co-founder and CEO of Encore, added: “Music artists are the original creators and they have been forgotten by the creator economy and overrun by memes and algorithms on social media.
“Our live AR technology empowers any artist to create personalised content and host experiences for their fans without a production budget or crew and make real cash with 100’s of engaged fans.”
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Encore is co-founded by Cudi, Gray and Hollywood producer, screenwriter and director Ian Edelman (president).
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