Pearl Jam cancel gig after singer’s throat damaged by French wildfires
The band were due to play in Vienna, Austria, but cancelled today after playing an outdoor gig at the Lollapalooza festival in Paris on Sunday.
They told fans: “due to the extreme circumstances at the last outdoor site outside of Paris (heat, dust, and smoke from the fires) our singer Ed Vedder’s throat was left damaged.”
They said they were “deeply sorry” for the “horrible timing” of the announcement but that his vocal chords had still not recovered despite medical treatment.
In a message online, they said: “Those who work so hard to put on the shows as well as those who give their precious time and energies to attend..., as a band, we are deeply sorry and have tried to find options to still play.
“And Ed wants to play. There’s just no throat available at this time...So very, very deeply sorry.”
The band, who got together in Seattle in 1990, said tickets would be refunded.
They have sold millions of records over their career with hits including Alive and Jeremy.
Wednesday’s Vienna concert was part of Pearl Jam‘s European tour, with the next stop scheduled in Prague on Friday.
Europe has been hit all week with soaring temperatures and France saw record new highs on Tuesday while firefighters in southwestern France have been battling since July 12 to contain massive forest wildfires.
The heatwave is now moving through southern Europe after sparking wildfires that burned tens of thousands of hectares of land in countries including Spain, Portugal and France.
