Usher and Chris Brown have cancelled two more stadium dates on their co-headlining R&B Tour, according to Ticketmaster listings reported this week. The axed shows were set for SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on November 16 and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on December 6.
What We Know
Both concerts now appear as cancelled on Ticketmaster, Consequence and TheGrio reported on November 10, with TMZ first flagging the Los Angeles-area date. Ticket buyers are due refunds. Neither artist nor the tour’s promoter has publicly explained why the two nights were dropped.
The pair are not walking away from either city entirely. Their November 15 show at SoFi Stadium remains on the schedule, as do the December 3 and December 5 nights at Hard Rock Stadium. The other remaining stops include two nights at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans (November 20 and 21), NRG Stadium in Houston (November 24) and two shows at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (December 11 and 12).
The two cancelled dates belonged to a batch of eight shows added in August “due to demand.” According to Consequence, citing Variety, six of those eight extra concerts have now been scrapped, following earlier removals of shows in Baltimore, Cincinnati, South Carolina and Indianapolis in October.
Background
The latest cancellations land in the middle of reports of tension between the two R&B stars. TMZ reported that the singers had a verbal argument before their November 5 show at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the opening night of a five-night residency in Usher’s adopted hometown. According to that report, the disagreement centred on whether to delay the start because heavy traffic had left many fans stuck outside.
That first Atlanta night ran hours late, and the two did not share the stage as they had on earlier dates. Frustrated fans started a Change.org petition asking for refunds or a make-up show, TheGrio reported. Later Atlanta nights went more smoothly, though a TMZ follow-up on November 10 described the relationship between the headliners as “still icy.”
Brown has pushed back on the feud narrative. In an Instagram Story, he told fans not to believe what they were reading online, writing “Don’t fall for it.” Usher has not commented publicly on the reports.
The R&B Tour was pitched as a celebration of two of the genre’s biggest hitmakers, whose careers span from Usher’s late-1990s breakthrough to Brown’s run of 2000s and 2010s chart hits. Taking the show into NFL-sized stadiums was an ambitious move for an R&B package. For more on artists from the same scene, see our profiles of Teyana Taylor and Megan Thee Stallion, or our report on Jay-Z’s Super Bowl LXI halftime booking.
Reactions
Beyond Brown’s brief Instagram message, neither camp has issued a formal statement. Fan reaction has been loudest around the delayed Atlanta opener, where the online petition gathered momentum among ticket holders who said they waited for hours.
What’s Next
The Atlanta residency was scheduled to wrap on Wednesday, November 11, before the tour heads west for the November 15 SoFi date. Fans holding tickets for the cancelled Inglewood and Miami nights should check their Ticketmaster accounts for refund details. Whether any further dates are trimmed, or whether the pair address the reported rift on stage, is something to watch over the coming weeks.
Sources
- Consequence – Usher and Chris Brown Cancel Tour Dates Amid Feud Rumors
- TheGrio – Usher, Chris Brown cancel two tour stops on ‘R&B Tour’
- Stereogum – Chris Brown & Usher cancel co-headline tour dates
- TMZ – Usher and Chris Brown’s Los Angeles concert canceled