Sam Smith has issued a statement, apologising to fans for cancelling their Manchester concert four songs in.
The ‘Unholy’ singer was just shortly into their concert in Manchester’s AO Arena last night (May 24) when the remainder of the show was suddenly cancelled.
Playing to a packed audience, the popstar kicked off the show with a rendition of their 2014 breakout hit ‘Stay With Me’, before launching into performances of ‘I’m Not The Only One’, ‘Like I Can’ and ‘Too Good At Goodbyes’. From there, however, Smith left the stage for an extended period and the lights were temporarily dimmed.
While some audience members initially took to social media to speculate if the issues were due to a power cut (via Manchester Evening News), they were later informed that the show had ended due to “vocal issues”, and instructed to leave the arena.
Now, the ‘I’m Not Here To Make Friends’ singer has taken to social media to apologise for the show’s abrupt cancellation — and explain to fans that they recently battled a virus.
“Dearest sailors, I don’t know what to say honestly,” Smith began. “I fought off a virus a few weeks ago and since then we have travelled across Europe and had such incredible shows. Today in soundcheck I felt fine and was so excited to give Manchester an amazing show tonight, with a special surprise at the end.”
They continued: “During my third song, I noticed something wrong with my voice. I prayed it was just my voice waking up for the show but into the fourth song I could feel something was really wrong.
“I came off stage and have tried everything to get my voice back in gear but it won’t. I am honestly heartbroken I couldn’t finish the show tonight for you all. I love you all. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry x”
At time of writing, it has not yet been confirmed whether the concert will be rescheduled, and all other upcoming shows on the ‘Gloria’ tour are still expected to go ahead as planned.
This isn’t the first time in 2023 that Smith has been forced to cancel one of their live performances. Back in April, it was announced that their gigs in Glasgow and Birmingham would be rescheduled due to an ongoing illness.
Similarly, earlier this month (May 7), it was confirmed that Sam Smith‘s Israel debut would be cancelled. Taking place at Summer In The City festival in Tel Aviv, the singer’s set — amid many others — was scrapped due to “unforeseeable problems”.
The tour is in celebration of Smith’s latest LP, ‘Gloria’, which arrived at the start of this year. In a four-star review of the album, NME hailed the release as the singer’s “most vital work” to date.
“Smith is no longer just the heartbreak purveyor who internet trolls once claimed was really Adele in disguise,” it read. “‘Gloria’ isn’t really an album about getting off. At heart, it’s a personal exploration of the broader queer experience that recalls George Michael‘s classic 1996 album ‘Older’… Sam Smith has never sounded better because they’ve never been more themselves.”
