It looks like it will be a cruel summer after all.
On Feb. 26, Taylor Swift announced that she would not be rescheduling Lover Fest, the series of concerts she planned for last year to promote her 2019 album Lover, after her touring plans were initially delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On social media, the “Cornelia Street” singer wrote, “I love coming on here to tell you good news, or to share a new project with you. It’s not my favorite thing in the world to have to tell you news I’m sad about. I’m so sorry, but I cannot reschedule the shows that we’ve postponed.”
The Grammy winner added that while refunds were made available upon the postponement announcement, she had “hung onto the idea that we could reschedule.” With continued uncertainties about when artists can get back to touring due to the continued spread of the coronavirus, however, rescheduling is no longer in the cards.
“This is an unprecedented pandemic that has changed everyone’s plans, and no one knows what the touring landscape is going to look like in future,” she continued. “I’m so disappointed that I won’t be able to see you in person as soon as I wanted to. I miss you all terribly and can’t wait til we can all safely be at shows together again.”
Taylor first announced that Lover Fest would be postponed in April of last year, just one month after the spread of the coronavirus caused many cities in the United States to go under varying degrees of lockdown.
“I’m so sad I won’t be able to see you guys in concert this year, but I know this is the right decision,” Taylor said on Instagram Stories at the time. “Please, please stay healthy and safe. I’ll see you on stage as soon as I can but right now, what’s important is committing to this quarantine, for the sake of all of us.”
While fans were no doubt disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to see Tay on tour, the artist has more than delivered during the coronavirus pandemic. She released two albums in the last year, folklore and evermore, and is currently in the middle of re-recording her masters after a dispute with her former label Big Machine. The “Taylor’s Versions” of her albums will include never-before-released tracks.
All of that is to say, by the time Taylor does hit the road to tour, she’ll have even more material to perform.
