The recent surge in COVID-19 cases has Garth Brooks reconsidering his nationwide stadium tour.
The Delta variant continues to sweep across the country, with the seven-day average for COVID-19 cases having reached the highest point since February on Monday, The Hill reported. The statistics have Brooks concerned about the spike, and how it will affect his fans.
"It breaks my heart to see city after city go on sale and then have to ask those sweet people and the venues to reschedule," he said Tuesday in a statement.
The singer is poised to play at Nebraska's Memorial Stadium on Aug. 14, and his team will then reassess the situation and make a decision about whether to proceed or reschedule the tour.
"We have a three-week window coming up where we, as a group, will assess the remainder of the stadium tour this year," Brooks said, according to CMT. "It’s humbling to see people put this much faith in you as an artist, and it kills me to think I am letting them down."
Brooks' next concert will take place on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. There will be a pre-show vaccination event to encourage fans to get their shot, and there will also be a raffle that allows vaccinated concertgoers the chance to upgrade their seats.
"It’s getting real sticky out there," Brooks said on his Facebook Live series, "Inside Studio G," earlier this week. "Follow all the rules, make your own rules up, too. You can’t be safe enough. You can’t be cautious enough. Keep your space. Keep your distance," he continued.
Brooks also urged fans attending Saturday's show to wear their masks.
"Nobody is going to look at you strange, I promise," he said.
In February, Garth Brooks' wife, Trisha Yearwood, tested positive for COVID-19. Brooks' test had come back negative but he chose to quarantine with her.
"Anyone who knows me knows my world begins and ends with Miss Yearwood, so she and I will ride through this together," the star said in a statement at the time, according to Fox News. "And anyone who knows [Yearwood] knows she's a fighter and she's been doing everything right, so I know we’ll walk out the other side of this thing together."
Brooks added that he was concerned about the long-term effects of the virus and how it could impact Yearwood's musical career, but said she was a strong woman.
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Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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