BTS cancels Korean tour, boy band withdraws from four Seoul shows

As cases of coronavirus are on the rise in South Korea, the boy band BTS has cancelled four shows scheduled from April 11 in Seoul

BTS is currently reigning the world as they are topping the worldwide music record charts with their recently released Map of the Soul: 7 album and the band is all set for international tours. But because of the latest coronavirus epidemic that has affected many countries globally including South Korea, the boy band has cancelled its shows in Seoul.

BTS was scheduled to perform in South Korea's capital city Seoul from April 11. Four shows were scheduled on April 11, 12, 18 and 19 at the Olympic Stadium which have been cancelled now. The announcement in this regard was made by the Big Hit Entertainment which said that it had expected at least 20,000 audiences for the show.

BTS show cancelled

BTS
Twitter/BTS official

The Big Hit Entertainment statement read: "(Coronavirus scare) has made it impossible at this time to predict the scale of the outbreak during the dates of the concert in April." It said ticket-holders will receive full refunds.

However, BTS's next schedule of concerts have been fixed for April 26 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. BTS will also perform three concerts on May 2, 3 and 5 in Pasadena. Meanwhile, BTS has broken many records including YouTube ones.

BTS' "On" music video from Map of the Soul: 7 album broke a YouTube record for the most concurrent viewers for a YouTube premiere with 1.54 million viewers. Spotify also announced that BTS songs have surpassed eight million listeners on its platform.

Other music events cancelled

China being the country where coronavirus originated, has incurred heavy losses. Reports claim that a total of nearly 20,000 music events have been either cancelled or postponed in China and Hong Kong alone. This has resulted in box-office losses of two billion yuan ($286 million) stated China Association of Performing Arts.

Not only Asian countries, but many shows have been cancelled outside the continent too. The 18th Korea Times Music Festival (grand annual event) that was scheduled to be held on April 25 at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles also has been postponed. As the COVID-19 is still spreading, the fresh date of the festival has not been announced yet. MOMOLAND, the girl band of Korea and rock band No Brain were scheduled to perform in the festival.

COVID-19 epidemic

The COVID-19 epidemic has caused a major stir among people around the world. The epidemic has infected more than 83,000 people around the world and has caused the death of over 2,800 people. The flu-like virus has spread over 55 countries around the world. In South Korea alone the number of confirmed cases has been increased to 2,000 and already 13 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19.

This article was first published on February 28, 2020
Related topics : BTS Coronavirus