Belle and Sebastian Cancel Tour Over Singer’s Health
Belle and Sebastian have canceled their 15-date European tour this November due to unspecified health issues affecting lead singer Stuart Murdoch. “It is a huge disappointment for us not to make the concerts, and the decision was not taken easily,” the band wrote in a statement. “Stuart wants nothing else but to be able to play and sing for you, but has to get better first. We hope you understand.” The group did not elaborate on Murdoch’s condition.
Belle and Sebastian have spent the majority of 2015 on the road in support of their recent LP Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. After their third North American leg in August and a South American jaunt in October, Belle and Sebastian returned to Europe in November to play a pair of U.K. gigs, including a charity concert they curated in their native Glasgow on November 2nd. The group’s next scheduled performance was a November 10th show in Bordeaux, France; the European tour itself was scheduled to wrap up on November 29th in Tilburg, Holland.
Barring a rescheduled European tour, the Scottish chamber pop act will next take the stage in June 2016 for a pair of sold-out shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
In January, Rolling Stone spoke to Murdoch about the band’s upcoming long trek and how the singer would rather stay in Scotland and work on the next Belle and Sebastian album. “I wish we could stay in Glasgow and do another LP right now, but I guess we’ve got to tour,” Murdoch said. “We’ve got conceptual ideas for four or five LPs just hanging around.”