Singer can’t tour due to coronavirus
Zac Brown has had to let go 90% of his touring band and crew since having to postpone The Owl Tour due to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world. He shared the news in a lengthy but emotional social media video that also called for a change in the attitude’s of people about the outbreak.
“It was a hard day today for the last 15 years, my crew and who I carried with me out on the road to play my shows and do what we do, I’ve had to let go of about 90% of my family, the people that I traveled with and grew my business with, the people I high five on the way out to the stage the people that have done their jobs and done them well. I hate having to make this call but I can’t generate out there and I can’t tour because of the coronavirus. And everyone’s safety, and I’m fine with that,” he shares in an emotional voice.
He shares urges everyone to take the pandemic seriously.
“I got this message that I want to say to the people that aren’t taking this seriously and who are out partying and the people that are out sitting on beaches and the people that don’t care if they get this virus and bring it home to their grandparents and maybe kill their grandparents or complicate their lives. The longer that America doesn’t take this seriously and doesn’t stay in and try to contain this, the longer everyone’s going to be out of jobs, the longer that we will be pushed into this recession that we’re all about to enter into. The sickness has just begun here, it’s just started to rear its head, so you need to wake up. You need to stay indoors and try to socially distance yourself and stay inside. America can heal from this, America can come together, we can celebrate with music, we can celebrate with song, we can celebrate on video chat, but the sooner that we take action on this and we don’t wait on our government to tell us that this was a serious issue and that should be, you know, we are late to the game.”
He continues, “I’m pretty ashamed of the way that our leadership handled all of this, I’m pretty ashamed of a lot of things. We can’t rely on our government to tell our people what they need to do. You can read between the lines, you can read all of the articles that are happening everywhere around the world and we are less protected than a lot of those countries, because no one can tell us what to do. We have to decide for ourselves as Americans and we have to look out for the future of all of our jobs and for the economy and for each other, so I love to spread music and spread love in song and share music with the world. I’m going to do my best to do that from closed doors but if we’re going to heal from this and we we’re going to get back to doing what were doing before this hit, then everyone’s got to take this seriously.”
The Owl Tour was to continue last week in St. Louis before making stops in Columbus, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix and others. The Nashville date was the final stop on the trek before kicking off the Roar With The Lions Tour on May 24th in New Hampshire. No word on the status of any rescheduled or future tour dates, as of press time.
Every major concert, festival and event have either been postponed or canceled due to the pandemic the World Health Organization (WHO) declared last week. More than 200k cases have been reported in 110 countries with over 9k deaths. More than 86k people have contracted and survived the virus that was discovered last year, forcing much of the world to shut down or reduce hours.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a 30 day travel ban to European countries, where the coronavirus has shut down Italy and France. He shares, “I am confident by counting and continuing to take these measures we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus,” per Fox News. The virus is spreading at a rapid pace, forcing schools and businesses to close throughout the nation.