Rock icon Bruce Springsteen has canceled shows during his European tour as he deals with what have been called “voice issues.”
A Saturday show in France was canceled only hours before it was set to take place.
“Due to vocal issues and under doctor's direction, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's concert this evening at the Orange Vélodrome in Marseille has been postponed to a later date. We thank you for your understanding and will keep you informed of the new date very soon,” Springsteen’s Instagram account posted on Saturday.
On Sunday, more concerts were canceled.
“Following yesterday's postponement in Marseille due to vocal issues, further examination and consulting has led doctors to determine that Bruce should not perform for the next ten days,” the Instagram account posted.
“With this in mind, additional postponements are required for Airport Letnany in Prague (originally scheduled for May 28) and San Siro Stadium in Milan (originally scheduled for June 1 and 3). New dates for these shows will be announced shortly,” the post stated.
“Bruce is recuperating comfortably, and he and the E Street Band look forward to resuming their hugely successful European stadium tour on June 12 in Madrid at the magnificent Civitas Metropolitan,” the post said.
Last fall, Springsteen canceled parts of a U.S. tour due to a peptic ulcer, according to the New York Post.
“When I had the stomach problem, one of the big problems was I couldn’t sing,” Springsteen said in March during the SiriusXM program “E Street Radio With Jim Rotolo,” according to the Post.
“Before people told me, ‘Oh no, it’s gonna go away, and you’re gonna be OK.’ [But] you’re thinking like, ‘Hey, am I gonna sing again?’” he said.
“And you know, this is one of the things I love to do the best, the most, and right now I can’t do it,” he said.
He also said it took a while for doctors to predict he was going to get back in business, according to the Post.
“At first, nobody was quite saying that, which made me nervous, you know? And at the end of the day, I found some great doctors, and they straightened me out, and I can’t do anything but thank them all,” he said, according to the Post.
Other than his decades-long music career, Springsteen is active in liberal politics and a very public supporter of former President Barack Obama.
He has long loathed former President Donald Trump, saying in 2020 that Trump was “a threat to our democracy,” according to Billboard.
Trump, never shy about a public conflict, made it clear during a recent rally in New Jersey -- Springsteen's home state -- that he isn't worried much about the singer's influence.
“I love these Saturday evenings. Is there anything better than a Trump rally?” he said during a May 11 rally at Wildwood, New Jersey, according to the Asbury Park Press.
“If some of these wackos came along, you know, these liberal singers, they'd actually vote for me. You know they'd all vote for me. You know, like Bruce Springsteen. We have a much bigger crowd than Bruce Springsteen. Right?” Trump said.
