MARY J BLIGE has cancelled what was to be her first Australasian tour, citing exhaustion.
The weary R+B star, who is currently performing dates in Britain, will not be making the trip to Australia this weekend as planned, for shows that were billed to start in Perth on 10 June (08).
Instead, the dates in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand will now take place in November (08).
In a statement released on Friday (06Jun08), tour promoter Michael Chugg said he accepted Blige was too tired to make the trip Down Under at this time.
He reveals Blige's "overwhelming tour schedule" has left her desperate for a rest and he agreed it would not be feasible to proceed with the tour as planned.
He explains, "We won't risk health complications or undue stress for the artist."
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Blige says, "I am so disappointed that I won't be able to make it to Australia and New Zealand for the June tour as planned.
"I want to thank all of my wonderful fans who supported the announcement of my first tour in these countries and I can't tell you how excited I was to come down in June and put on a show for you all. Postponing these shows has been an extremely difficult decision for me and I am sincerely sorry that I will not be able to fulfil my tour commitments."
