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Sam Fender has cancelled his remaining tour dates for 2024 after “haemorrhaging his right vocal cord”.
The singer-songwriter was due to play a second Glasgow show tonight (18 December) and his home city of Newcastle on Friday, in the final stint of his first UK arena tour since 2022.
In a social media post, the North Shields-born musician said he recently had the flu and investigations revealed he had haemorrhaged his right vocal cord.
Fender said he was “absolutely heartbroken” but two separate doctors had said if he performed he would be “risking lasting damage”.
The singer said he had been advised to go on vocal rest and not use his voice for a “prolonged length of time until it heals”.
Fender is due to kick off the US leg of his tour in February, before performing across Europe in the spring.
Fender said he was “absolutely heartbroken” but two separate doctors had said if he performed he would be “risking lasting damage”
Next June, the CAA-repped act will perform at the 75,000-capacity London Stadium on Friday 6 June, marking his first stadium show outside Newcastle and his biggest-ever headline show.
He’ll then return to the north for two hometown shows at Newcastle’s St. James’ Park on Thursday 12 and Saturday 14 June.
It’ll be the third and fourth time the North Shields-hailing musician has performed in his home city stadium, having sold out two nights back in 2023. He will overtake The Rolling Stones who have performed at St James’ Park on three previous occasions.
The 30-year-old has had trouble with his vocal cords previously, cancelling his 2019 tour when he had laryngitis and was concerned he could haemorrhage one of them.
“I’ve done everything by the book this tour living like a monk, it’s so unlucky,” he wrote on Instagram. “This has been the best tour so far and all I want to do is get up and sing again for you all tonight. I’m so, so sorry to all of you who are on your way tonight.”
Fender added he and his team were trying to find a way to reschedule the dates.
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Independent promoter Triple A has announced a wide-ranging partnership deal with So Solid Crew and S9 founder Megaman, starting with a UK Garage All Stars 2023 arena tour.
Kicking off at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on 21 June, the run will bring together more than 30 of the garage genre’s most renowned artists, plus surprise guests. It will also include stops at Birmingham Utilita Arena (22 June), Cardiff International Arena (23 June), OVO Arena Wembley (24 June) and AO Arena Manchester (25 June).
“Beside being an artist I’m such a fan of the music; a genre created right here in the UK, which has gone on to achieve an incredible amount of No.1 hits and platinum-selling records, I’ve always wanted to see it concert style,” says Megaman, aka Dwayne Vincent.
“This arena tour we have here is the first of many plans and ideas we want to execute with the brand”
“This arena tour we have here is the first of many plans and ideas we want to execute with the brand. It’s an exciting project for us. Let’s see what the future brings.”
S9’s partnership with Triple A will also include a “significant investment” in brand recognition and development, with the collaborators aiming to put the spotlight back on the producers, creators and artists that carved out the influential UK garage scene, which enjoyed its biggest commercial success from 1999-2001.
“This is not simply an exercise in nostalgia,” adds a press release. “The intention is to bring the focus back to this Innovative group of people who created a uniquely British sound, which still resonates today.”
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