Cancelling To Come Back Whole: Mental Health On Tour

The lights dim, the crowd goes wild. Sometimes thousands of fans have traveled far and wide to come see the one performer they always wanted to see. Then, a cancellation announcement. When an artist cancels a tour, it becomes a complicated process. From money lost due to venue bookings, refunding fans, having excess merch, and people losing jobs, it becomes a difficult decision to keep going or not. Many artists cancel their tours due to financial reasons, injury, illness, and mental health issues. It is rare that an artist will cancel due to mental health, but it should be celebrated instead of being brought up with criticism. Although people have traveled and have been looking forward to the show, they should allow the artist to put themselves first.

Lady Gaga, Meghan Trainor, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Lewis Capaldi are only a part of the few artists who put a stop to their tour mid-way to handle a personal situation. Selena Gomez also cancelled her Revival tour, but this time it was to focus on her mental health.

Selena Gomez: The Revival Tour Cancellation

She announced that she would be cancelling all future shows in August 2016. This came a year after Gomez announced that she had lupus, which is a chronic illness that impacts multiple parts of the body. Between her illness and taxing schedule, Gomez put herself first and cancelled the rest of her Revival World Tour. Before Gomez took time off, she made sure the fans knew why she was stopping the tour, saying, “I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness, and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off. Thank you to all my fans for your support.” She told fans that anxiety was a direct side effect of her lupus.

She is a strong example to all of her young fans and other artists out there, highlighting that mental health should always come first. While of course it's a difficult decision, nobody should ever be forced to go through a hard time, even if it means losing fans. You wouldn't want to lose yourself first. 

Gomez didn't return to the stage after this. She knows what's right for her and said, “It is very emotionally draining for me. And then you realize you're just surrounded by a bunch of people that you're paying,” when she was asked if she'd ever return to tour again in the future. That shows how strong she is as a person and artist. It's not every day an artist knows to step back to focus on themselves. 

LONG STORY SHORT: Any artist should be able to take a step back and put themselves first. The pressure from the fans and social media can really take a toll on how an artist is feeling. The expectation to pull through should never be the norm. As a society, we should be more accepting of mental health resources and be there for people who need the help, even if they have a world tour lined up. At the end of the day, a sold-out arena means nothing if the person on stage is struggling to stay whole. Choosing to step back isn't a weakness; it's survival.