A HUGE American country music star has scrapped his European tour for the sake of his “brand, crew and family.”
The Philadelphia-born performer, 34, made the shock reveal on his Instagram Stories – telling his fans “it’s not an easy decision.”
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Hardy, full name Michael Wilson Hardy, has now axed his Jim Bob Tour just days before he was set to take to the stage.
The Psycho hitmaker was due to play a host of UK and Ireland dates in the UK and Ireland, kicking off in Birmingham on June 25 and wrapping that segment of the gigs in Dublin on July 3.
A statement on his social media was written in white text on a black background and read: “I have decided to cancel the European leg of the JIM BOB TOUR.
“It wasn’t an easy decision but one I had to make for my band, crew and my family.
“Please know that I love you all and that I will be back as soon as I can.
“Refunds will automatically issued by your point of purchase.”
The Favorite Country Song hitmaker then ignored his tour woe to upload a slide revealing his “pride” in collaborating on new Lauren Alaina track Heaven Sent.
The chart star is married to Caleigh Hardy and the pair welcomed daughter Rose Ryan in March.
Fans were quick to react to the sad news on X, with one who posted: “Can’t even give a reason. What a melt. Fuming tbh.”
A second put: “Knew it was going to happen eventually. The Belfast show had to move to venue last week then this.”
A third then quizzed: “Poor ticket sales???”
The chart topper gave no further explanation for the tour axe.
COUNTRY STAR
Hardy scooped the prestigious accolade of BMI Country Songwriter of the Year in 2022.
Yet it was his 2023 album, The Mockingbird and The Crow, which got fans talking.
He recently spoke of his favourite-ever gig to date and said: “My favourite one that comes to mind is Faster Horses in 2021.
“It’s a festival in Michigan, and we had a day slot — we went on at 5 p.m. But it was at a very momentous moment in my career.
“There was just a lot of hype, and we could feel it out in the crowd. And there was like 28,000 people there. My Live Nation rep was like, ‘Dude, there’s never been this many people here at this time of day. You should go out there and just pretty much f**k ’em up!'”
He added to revolvermag.com: “It was the most insane crowd we had ever played for, and we just destroyed them.
“We only had eight or 10 songs to play, because we only had like a 30- or 40-minute slot; but man, we just absolutely brought the house down — and the crowd was so, so good.”
It comes just days after we reported a US music festival had been scrapped for bad weather.
It was set to feature Hardy’s fellow country music star Luke Combs and music producer Dom Dolla taking to the stage.
Meanwhile, Aussie pop princess Kylie Minogue was forced to cancel four of her shows in Europe due to illness.
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