Two weeks after Lionel Richie was forced to postpone his tour with Mariah Carey because of a knee injury, the pair's All the Hits tour has been rescheduled and reduced in size. Originally slated to run mid-March to late May, the 35-date tour has been reduced to 21 dates, with show cancellations in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, St. Louis, Nashville and Charlotte.
The new tour, which kicks off July 21 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, and ends September 5 at KeyArena in Seattle, was squeezed in between commitments for both artists, according to a statement from Live Nation. "We had a small window between Lionel's continued touring plans overseas in the fall," the statement reads, "and Mariah's scheduled Las Vegas residency to fit as many dates as we could route."
Ticket sales for some of the dates on the original tour had been so-so, sources told Billboard, and many of the smaller markets didn't get rescheduled, instead skipped over for big cities. Two nights at the Hollywood Bowl were pared down to one. Plans to play two New York City dates were scrapped; the Madison Square Garden show was rebooked while the Nassau Coliseum date was canceled. A show at Philips Arena in Atlanta was moved to the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Georgia, because of a scheduling conflict.
Richie was forced to postpone the tour last month after being sidelined with knee issues that required medical attention and a lengthy recovery. "When you have been performing as long as I have, it takes a toll on your body," the 67-year-old said in a tweet. "Unfortunately my recovery from a knee procedure will not have me 100 percent ready to start the tour," adding, "I look forward to being back onstage so we can all be 'Dancing on the Ceiling' together again."
The All the Hits tour went on sale December 17, two weeks before Carey's disastrous New Year's Eve performance on ABC. Sources tell Billboard the high-profile meltdown didn't help already-sluggish ticket sales.
(Billboard)
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