Coronavirus: Live Nation Will Pause All Tours Through March, Possibly April

As tour cancelations continue to roll in across the United States and the rest of the world as a result of the coronavirus, concert promotion behemoth Live Nation has taken an extraordinary preemptive step by announcing plans to cancel all of its concerts worldwide for the duration of March and possibly beyond.

Billboard reports that Live Nation told its employees earlier today that it will be “pausing” nearly all of its concerts through the rest of the month, and will re-evaluate the situation at the beginning of April. A few shows will play out through Friday, March 13, but that will be all, and internal language suggests some or all April shows could be canceled as well. Meanwhile, all Live Nation employees have been instructed to work remotely. No one has been laid off.

The report makes use of the phrase “arena shows.” It is not presently clear whether Live Nation is canceling only those shows taking place in large arenas or in its smaller venues as well.

The Billboard report added:

“On a call, company executive told employees that March is generally a slow month and that Live Nation will re-evaluate the situation at the beginning of April with the goal of resuming touring in May or June.

“Live Nation is not planning any layoffs and company officials told staff it is well positioned to weather the closure.”

MetalSucks is keeping a running list of all metal and hard rock tours affected by the coronavirus and updating that list regularly. Keep track of the latest here.