My Chemical Romance, Machine Head and Papa Roach axe tours due to coronavirus

More shows have been axed

My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 12th Mar 2020
Last updated 12th Aug 2021

My Chemical Romance, Machine Head and Papa Roach are among the latest artist to cancel tours due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

As part of their reunion tour, My Chemical Romance were due to play Intex Osaka in Japan and Download Festival Japan at the end of March.

Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Ray Toro and Frank Iero issued a statement in the early hours of this morning confirming theses shows won’t be going ahead.

"The promoter of our Japan shows suggested that we postpone the shows in Japan for the safety of the public, and we are heeding that advice," My Chemical Romance said in a statement.

"We had very much hoped to have alternate dates confirmed before we announced the postponement, to make sure our fans knew we had every intention of coming back. Somehow, word got out before we could do that. However, please know we are working on rescheduling shows and will try to announce those soon. We are terribly sad to postpone, and even more distressed about what is happening the world over. Take good care and we hope to see you all as soon as possible. Please be good to each other."

My Chemical Romance are still set to play Download Festival Australia, which hits Melbourne and Sydney on 20th and 21st March. My Chemical Romance then hit the UK for shows at the Eden Project and Stadium MK in Milton Keynes this summer.

Last night (11th March), Machine Head also cancelled their UK and European Tour including their dates at London Alexandra Palace and Birmingham O2 Academy at the start of June.

Explaining why they are postponing the shows, which were due to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album ‘Burn My Eyes’, Machine Head wrote: “Of paramount importance to us is the health and safety of the Head Cases.

“We’ve worked hard with all our management, booking agents, and business associates to find other solutions or options, but the levels of risk to our audience and their communities is simply too high for our comfort level.

“In addition to that, we also have a unique group of extraordinarily passionate fans who travel from all over the continent to watch our shows. We are eternally humbled by the dedication and devotion of the Head Cases, however in this case, travel is something not recommended.”

Papa Roach have also cancelled the last five shows of their European tour, which was scheduled to hit Paris, Tilburg, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Copenhagen.

At the time of writing, there have been over 126,135 cases of Covid-19 diagnosed around the global resulting in 4,630 deaths.

The World Health Organisation yesterday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

Other acts who have postponed or cancelled tours due to coronavirus include Pearl Jam, Whitesnake, Michael Schenker Fest, Slipknot, Sons of Apollo, Santana, Green Day, Lacuna Coil, Behemoth, Pixies, Trivium and Testament.