Singer, actor and dancer Jennifer Lopez on Friday became the latest music star to cancel swaths of planned North American tour dates, including scheduled shows at Oklahoma arenas.
In February, Lopez announced plans for her "This Is Me…Now The Tour," including a July 24 Oklahoma show at Tulsa's BOK Center. Produced by Live Nation, the North American run was to mark J.Lo's return to touring after a five-year break following her successful 2019 trek, which grossed more than $50 million and sold out venues across the country.
The summer outing was to feature Lopez performing songs from her catalog of hits as well as from her new album "This Is Me…Now," released Feb. 16.
But J.Lo announced on Friday, weeks before she was scheduled to go on the road, that she was scrapping her entire summer trek. The announcement in her On The JLo newsletter informed fans that "Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends."
"I am completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down. Please know that I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary. I promise I will make it up to you and we will all be together again," Lopez wrote in a "special message" to her fans in the newsletter. "I love you all so much. Until next time …"
Tulsa ticketholders will be automatically refunded from the point of purchase, according to a BOK Center representative.
J.Lo joins The Black Keys in scrapping North American tour
Lopez becomes at least the third music star in the past week or so to cancel a chunk of concert dates, including planned Oklahoma arena shows.
Six-time Grammy Award winners The Black Keys recently canceled their 2024 North American headlining tour that was originally slated to launch in Oklahoma.
The duo of singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney announced in April plans to kick off the fall "International Players Tour" Sept. 17 at Tulsa's BOK Center. Produced by Live Nation, the coast-to-coast tour originally was scheduled to go on to New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, with two dates in the band’s home state of Ohio.
The Black Keys' 31-city autumn tour was to support their 12th studio album, "Ohio Players," which was released April 5 via Nonesuch Records.
But an Instagram post over Memorial Day weekend on The Black Keys' official account revealed the duo's new plan to reconfigure the the North American leg of the tour, which seems unlikely to be rebooked in arenas.
"Following the recent run of shows in the UK & Europe, including stops at iconic venues like Brixton Academy and the Zenith in Paris, we have decided to make some changes to the North American leg of the International Players Tour that will enable us to offer a similarly exciting, intimate experience for both fans and the band, and will be announcing a revised set of dates shortly," the band posted on Instagram.
Peso Pluma cancels OKC, Tulsa and other North American tour dates
Trailblazing Mexican musician Peso Pluma also has canceled his summer Oklahoma City and Tulsa shows, along with several other concerts on his North American tour. In partnership with Live Nation, the rising global music star announced in February plans to play coast to coast on his 2024 "Éxodo Tour" in celebration of his Grammy-winning 2023 album "Génesis."
His 40-date trek was originally slated to include two summer shows in Oklahoma: July 23 in OKC at Paycom Center and Aug. 3 in Tulsa at the BOK Center. But representatives from both Sooner State venues confirmed this week that those shows have been canceled.
YouTube's No. 1 most-viewed artist of 2023 in the U.S., Pluma also has canceled tour dates in at least seven other North American cities, including Montreal, Toronto, Kansas City, Nashville, New Orleans, Detroit and Miami, Florida, according to Ticketmaster.
No reason was given for the Oklahoma show cancellations. Neither representatives for Pluma nor Live Nation responded to an email this week from The Oklahoman.
Why are so many concerts getting canceled?
Lopez's announcement canceling her summer tour came amid rumors about the state of her marriage of nearly two years to Ben Affleck, USA Today reports.
J.Lo's announcement also came weeks after several shows on her tour were canceled without explanation. According to Ticketmaster, Lopez's scheduled performances in Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans; Raleigh, North Carolina; Atlanta; Houston; Cleveland and Tampa, Florida, weren't happening.
Many music fans have been left speculating about the causes behind the recent rash of concert cancellations. Possible explanations from industry watchers range from buyers' changing habits in the post-pandemic era to the high prices for tickets.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, concert promoters, sports teams and performing arts organizations all have noted a shift in consumer habits to waiting until the last minute to buy tickets. That trend can make it difficult to predict how a tour or season will fare financially, making them riskier prospects for event organizers.
In May, the Justice Department, 29 states and the District of Columbia sued Live Nation Entertainment — the parent company of Ticketmaster as well as the promoter of many tours, including the scrapped treks for J.Lo and The Black Keys — alleging it monopolized the live events industry. The lawsuit seeks to lower prices for fans and open up venues to more musicians, USA Today reports, noting that the fees Ticketmaster charges for concert tickets can be "staggering."
Last year, MarketWatch noted the coining of the term "funflation" — a combination “fun” and “inflation" — to describe a surge in consumer spending on entertainment like concerts, movies and sporting events, with the high demand boosting the ticket prices for those types of experiences.
Ticket News Editor Dave Clark recently told NBC News that the live music business could be seeing a reckoning after the pent-up demand from closures and cancellations during the COVID-19 pandemic led to booming growth once touring resumed. (As USA Today notes, the failure of summer movies like "The Fall Guy," "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" and "The Garfield Movie" to put up big opening-weeking numbers at the domestic box-office has led to similar musings as the recent canceling of concert dates.)
“The days where there was enough demand to sell out arenas at top dollar just isn’t there in this live events economy — outside of people like Taylor Swift who can sell whatever they want wherever they want,” Clark told NBC News. “It’s just a very overloaded market.”
Which music stars are seeing success on tour?
Although some stars are canceling their concert tours, others are finding great success on the road.
Last year, Swift's "Eras Tour" literally set a Guinness World Record by becoming the highest-grossing music tour ever and the first to surpass $1 billion dollars in revenue.
Also in 2023, Elton John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour," Beyonce's "Renaissance World Tour" and Harry Styles' "Love on Tour" all broke into Billboard Boxscore's Top 10 Tours of All Time.
This year, hitmakers like Oklahoma country music star Zach Bryan, Drake and Olivia Rodrigo haven't had trouble selling out arenas in the Sooner State and beyond, either.
And the concert announcements keep coming.
Justin Timberlake recently added an OKC show at Paycom Center to his 2024 "The Forget Tomorrow World Tour" that already included a Tulsa BOK Center show, and Country Music Hall of Famer Alan Jackson revealed this week a short list of dates for his "Last Call: One More for the Road" tour, including an OKC concert Jan. 18, 2025, at Paycom Center.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why are stars like J.Lo, Black Keys, Peso Pluma canceling arena shows?
