Kanye West Cancels Rest Of Saint Pablo Tour
Kanye West’s innovative Saint Pablo Tour was the coolest live music experience I’ve had all year, but after announcing an additional run of shows last month, it looks like he’s actually bringing the tour to an early conclusion instead. New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli confirms via Twitter that the tour’s 22 remaining 2016 dates will not happen.
The mass cancellation follows a series of increasingly agitated political speeches, including praise for Donald Trump and criticism for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. After West cancelled last night’s Los Angeles performance, reports suggested he was “taking a breather to deal with personal issues.”
UPDATE: “A source connected to the rapper” tells TMZ, “He’s just exhuasted. He’s been working around the clock on fashion design, both his own line and the Adidas line.” The touring life and stress resulting from Kim Kardashian’s robbery in Paris two months ago were also allegedly wearing on him, says the source: “All the time spent away from his family has been a stress on him as well. They are most important to him.” The report suggests that a new leg of the tour will launch in 2017, so maybe those cities whose dates were cancelled will end up getting a show after all. Per the source, “He doesn’t want to give fans anything less than his best.”