Aussie fans know all too well how difficult it can be to see their fave artist Down Under. From Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet Tour and Olivia Rodrigo’s upcoming Unraveled Tour, to literally any tour Beyoncé has done in the past 13 years, it’s sadly not too much of a surprise when artists don’t bring their shows all the way to Australia.
Now, in a bizarre turn of events, American fans are experiencing what we have been for years, as several musicians have been cancelling concert dates in the US.
Meghan Trainor, Post Malone and now The Pussycat Dolls have all made changes to their upcoming tours after struggling to sell tickets, which has been described as “Blue Dot Fever” currently plaguing the music industry.
Why are so many artists cancelling their tours?
Meghan Trainor announced last month that she had cancelled her entire 2026 tour in support of her latest album “Toy With Me” — which recently debuted at 198 on the Billboard 200 — and told fans it was so she could prioritise her family.
“Balancing the release of a new album, preparing for a nationwide tour, and welcoming our new baby girl to our growing family of five has just been more than I can take on right now, and I need to be home and present for each and all of them at this time,” she posted on social media.
Post Malone followed suit earlier this week, announcing that he had cancelled the first three weeks of his upcoming tour as he needed more time to finish his new music.
While some artist announcements appear to be for genuine reasons, with Zayn Malik cancelling his sold-out 2026 US tour due to health concerns and Dolly Parton cancelling her anticipated Las Vegas residency due to ongoing health issues, fans have speculated that others have done so due to low ticket sales. It was reported that tickets for Post Malone’s stadium venues were around 75 per cent unsold, while tickets for Meghan’s arena-sized dates were described as “sluggish”.
This was also the case for The Pussycat Dolls, who announced this week in a rare display of transparency that they would be axing their comeback tour due to a lack of interest.
“After taking an honest look at the North American run, we’ve made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to cancel all but one of the North America dates,” they wrote in a statement, adding that their UK and European dates will still move forward as planned, as several shows have already sold out.
Why is it called Blue Dot Fever?
This isn’t just a 2026 phenomenon, with Jennifer Lopez cancelling her This Is Me…Live tour in 2024 to “spend time with family” and Lauryn Hill calling off her 2024 US tour due to low ticket sales. Personally, I’ll never forget when Little Mix cancelled the Australian leg of their 2019 tour to “focus on recording new music” — and broke up as a foursome a year later. RIP.
However, industry insiders are saying there’s a particular rise in cancellations at the moment due to market saturation, over-ambitious venues and high prices. Essentially, artists are selling tickets at Taylor Swift prices without having a Taylor Swift fanbase.
Ticket prices have risen significantly in recent years, with the average ticket costing around AUD $128 and premium seating around $600, which isn’t great in a cost-of-living crisis.
This then leads to what’s being called “Blue Dot Fever”, referring to the blue dots representing unsold seats on seating charts. It’s not a great sign, but it’s also important to note that spending habits have changed in recent years, and fans often buy tickets just a few weeks before the concert instead of months in advance.
The bottom line is that something has to change, whether it’s pricing or venue size, because if these artists can’t even tour in their home country, there’s little chance they’ll be travelling all the way to Australia to perform.
The post Why Are So Many Artists Cancelling Their Tours? Blue Dot Fever, Explained appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
