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Beliebers in Australia and New Zealand are heartbroken after Justin Bieber cancelled his tour to those countries.
The cancellation was announced by Frontier touring on their Instagram account on Tuesday, 28 February.
“All tickets purchased through the official ticketing outlets will receive a refund directly from the shows ticketing agency,” the caption reads.
Last year, Justin, 29, cancelled several shows including his Cape Town and Johannesburg shows, due to his Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
Justin’s 2022 tour dates for Europe and London, which were postponed to 2023, have also been cancelled.
When the dates were postponed, ticket-holders never received confirmation of the new dates.
The Europe and London ticket-holders received an email on Tuesday confirming the cancellation.
"We regret to inform you that the Justin Bieber shows planned to take place at The O2 arena have been cancelled. We understand you will be disappointed and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause," the email from ticket provider AXS reads.
The latest statement from Justin says that although he wants to take his Justice tour to the world, he needs to put his health first.
“I realised that I need to make my health the priority now. I’m going to take a break from touring for the time being,” the statement reads.
“I’m going to be okay but I need time to rest and get better. Thank you for your prayers and support through all of this. I love you all passionately.”
He's one of the biggest pop stars of his generation, a guy who turns almost every tune he lends his distinctive voice to into chart-topping treasure.
Tickets to his concerts are sold out almost as soon as they go on sale. World tours are money-making magic. Collaborations with him are instant hits – just look at Despacito, the funky Spanish-language earworm he features on.
But Justin Bieber, the boy wonder who burst onto the scene as a fresh-faced 15-year-old with Baby, has been plagued with problems.He may be worth $285 million (R4,5 billion) but, as the old saying goes, money can’t buy happiness – or, in his case, health.
News reports first emerged he was battling a “non-Covid-related illness” and Justin himself addressed the matter on Instagram – and from the look of him, there was something serious going on.
“As you can see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome,” he said. “It’s from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis.
“This eye is not blinking,” he continued, indicating his drooping left eye. “I can’t smile with this side of my face, this nostril will not move. So there is full paralysis on this side of my face.”
You have to feel for Justin. He and his model wife, Hailey (26), may seem to have it all: looks, big bucks, fabulous holidays, dream homes, the world as their oyster – but there’s plenty of other stuff going on too.
Last year Hailey was having breakfast with her husband when she felt a shooting pain down her arm. Justin asked if she was okay but she was unable to respond.
“I couldn’t speak,” she says on a YouTube video. “The right side of my face started drooping, I couldn’t get a sentence out.”
Tests revealed she had a small blood clot in her brain, known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or a mini-stroke, which fortunately resolved on its own.
“My blood clot escaped through the flap, or the hole, in my heart and travelled to my brain,” she says. “And that was why I had my TIA.”
Their lives together have been hit by one drama after the other it seems.
Justin and Hailey announced their engagement in July 2018 and, after two PDA-packed months, had a surprise courthouse wedding in New York.
By this stage, Justin had had several dips into trouble.
In 2014 he’d thrown eggs at a neighbour’s house after becoming enraged about complaints about noise from his property. He caused $80 000 (then about R1 million) in damages and was ordered to undergo anger management classes.
Later he was arrested for driving under the influence, drag racing and resisting arrest. He avoided jail time by agreeing to go on a 12-month anger management course and complete a driving under the influence programme.
With Hailey he seemed to shed his petulant, law-breaking image – but the ink had barely dried on the marriage certificate when reports surfaced the newlyweds were going through a hard time.
Justin was “very depressed”, a source said. The crooner addressed things head-on when fans kept asking when he’d be producing new music.
“I am now very focused on repairing some of the deep-rooted issues that I have so that I don’t fall apart, so I can sustain my marriage and be the father I want to be,” he said.
Things then seemed to get back on track. In September 2019 Justin and Hailey held a wedding ceremony at a swanky hotel in South Carolina with celebrity guests such as Kylie and Kendall Jenner as well as Scooter Braun and Usher, two of the music industry bigwigs who kickstarted Justin’s career.
But mental health issues continued to plague him. Justin opened up about the “consistent pain” he’d been in since breaking into the big time.
“There were times where I was really, really suicidal,” he said. “Like, man, is this pain ever going to go away?”
He offered advice to anyone struggling with their mental health.
“I just would encourage people, like, ‘Hey, if you’re feeling lonely, talk about it. Say it out loud.’ There’s a freedom in that. I could have avoided a lot of pain.”
He praised Hailey for accepting him as he was and supporting him on his mental health journey.
“Even when we got married, there was still a lot of damage and hurt that I needed to work through,” he told his wife. “But you’ve seen my heart through it all.”
This wouldn’t be the first time health issues have interfered with Justin’s career. He cancelled the last leg of his 2017 Purpose tour citing crippling depression, anxiety and exhaustion and two years later announced he was taking a step back from music to find treatment.
Then he announced he had Lyme disease and posted a message on Instagram sharing the diagnosis and saying he’d experienced “a rough couple of years”.
Now there’s the Ramsay Hunt syndrome to deal with. Those close to Justin say the latest drama is “a massive setback” for the fragile musician, who’d been in a good place and was hoping to woo and wow his legions of fans with his 127-date Justice world tour.
But he’s getting better, he says, and he has his faith to thank.
“Through all of the discomfort I have found comfort in the one who designed me and knows me.”
His faith is seeing him through as he navigates his latest storm, he adds. And hopefully that means South African fans will be reminding Justin to Love Yourself in song before long.
It’s a rare neurological disorder caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chicken pox and shingles. The virus can lie dormant for years but can awaken with a trigger, such as trauma, fever, stress or a weakened immune system. This can lead to inflammation of the nerve that controls the facial muscles. It can also cause a rash or blisters around the ear, facial weakness, difficulty closing an eye, a loss of facial expression, pain in the ear or face, and hearing loss. Treatment within 72 hours with antiviral medication, steroids and painkillers can help clear up the symptoms. More than 70% of those affected make a full recovery if treatment is started early.
SOURCES: MEDPAGETODAY.COM, WEBMD.COM
SOURCES: ELLE.COM, EONLINE.COM, USMAGAZINE.COM, ETONLINE.COM, PEOPLE.COM, THECUT.COM, HOLA.COM, WASHINGTONPOST.COM, TEENVOGUE.COM, DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, CAPTIALFM.COM
