The Rolling Stones postpone North American tour dates as Jagger needs heart surgery
LATEST UPDATE: The Rolling Stones reschedule the Miami show for Aug. 31.
EARLIER UPDATE: The Sun UK and the Drudge Report said on Monday that Mick Jagger is to undergo heart valve replacement surgery in New York within the week and that it is expected he will recover in time to resume touring some time this summer.
On Saturday, the group’s publicist released information on the postponement of the Rolling Stones’ No Filter Tour’s North American leg, which was to start April 20 in Miami Gardens at the Hard Rock Stadium.
The news sites, as well as TMZ, also said Jagger, and fellow members of the Rolling Stones, were in Miami over the weekend. TMZ also ran a photo of Jagger Sunday at a Miami Beach home.
As of Monday afternoon, the Stones’ publicist has not confirmed these accounts. On April 5, Jagger tweeted that the surgery had one well and he was “on the mend.”
Heart valve surgery is required to repair a damaged or disease valve that allows blood to flow through the heart, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“You can’t always get what you want,” the Rolling Stones famously sang 50 years ago. But if you wait a little while, and if all goes well, Miami fans of the “world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band” will still get to see the Stones on tour.
But on Saturday, the band’s publicist, Fran Curtis, issued a release to say that the Stones have had to postpone the next leg of the band’s transcontinental No Filter tour, which had been scheduled to kick off in Miami Gardens at the Hard Rock Stadium on April 20.
“Mick Jagger has been advised by doctors that he cannot go on tour at this time as he needs medical treatment. The doctors have advised Mick that he is expected to make a complete recovery so that he can get back on stage as soon as possible,” Curtis’ email said.
In the statement Jagger, 75, said: “I hate letting our fans down and I’m hugely disappointed to have to postpone the tour but am looking forward to getting back on stage as soon as I can.”
The Stones’ rep didn’t say what led to Jagger’s medical condition.
Two of the postponed shows were set for Florida: April 20 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and April 24 at the TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.
Tour promoters AEG Presents/Concerts West advised that people who have tickets to attend the following shows should hold onto their existing tickets as they will be valid for the rescheduled dates.
In addition to the Florida dates, the postponed shows are: Houston’s NRG Stadium on April 28; the New Orleans Jazz Festival on May 2; Glendale’s State Farm Stadium on May 7; Pasadena’s Rose Bowl on May 11; Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium on May 18; Seattle’s Centurylink Field on May 22; Denver’s Mile High Stadium on May 26; Washington’s FedEx Field on May 31.
Also, June dates at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Field on June 4; Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium on June 8; East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium on June 13 and 17; Chicago’s Soldier Field on June 21 and 25; and Canada’s Burl’s Creek Event Ground on June 29.
Fleetwood Mac has been announced as the Stones’ replacement act for the New Orleans Jazz Festival. But within a week Fleetwood Mac had to pull out of the gig because lead singer Stevie Nicks was fighting the flu.
The Miami Hurricanes’ April 20 spring game couldn’t have played the Hard Rock Stadium at the same time as the booked Stones extravaganza. Despite the sudden opening, the UM football team will keep its already announced noon game that day at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.
Need some Stones to tide you over in the meantime?
For South Florida fans who really are jonesing for live Rolling Stones at Hard Rock Stadium, a video and audio release issued last year contains nearly the entirety of the group’s Voodoo Lounge Tour that played the venue in November 1994.
Netflix is airing the 2016 documentary, “Rolling Stones Olé Olé Olé: A Trip Across Latin America,” which features the run toward their first concert in Cuba, in Havana, two songs from that landmark performance, and footage from stops in Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Mexico. “Olé Olé Olé!” is terrific.
The group’s label has also released yet another Stones compilation, this one a three-disc set called “Honk,” for some reason. “Honky Tonk Women” isn’t on the set because it focuses on material from 1971’s “Sticky Fingers” through the 2016 blues covers album, “Blue and Lonesome.”
Collectors may want the set for disc three since it contains 10 live tracks cut recently.
This story was originally published March 30, 2019 at 10:13 AM.
