NEW YORK — LL Cool J will have a more subdued New Year’s Eve than planned.
The 53-year-old rapper was scheduled to headline “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” Friday night, but has been forced to cancel after contracting COVID-19.
“I know it’s disappointing to the millions of fans but my test came back positive for COVID, which means I’ll no longer be able to perform as scheduled at NYRE,” the Long Island native said in a statement late Wednesday.
“We were ready and I was really looking forward to ringing in 2022 in my hometown in a special way, but for now I wish everyone a healthy and happy New Year. The best is yet to come!”
The “NCIS: Los Angeles” star was set to perform a pre-midnight set live from Times Square for the ABC New Year’s Eve special.
R&B singer Chloe has also canceled her performance.
ABC is still pushing ahead with the festivities, even as Mayor Bill de Blasio has tightened the Times Square revelry amid concerns about growing COVID-19 cases.
Fox, on the other hand, canceled its own “Toast & Roast 2022″ last week.
As of Thursday, the rest of the “Rockin’ Eve” setlist is still a go, including Billy Porter, Karol G, Journey, Daddy Yankee, Ciara, Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, Big Boi, OneRepublic and French Montana.
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