Lily Allen cancelled her Auckland gig with hours to go due to a “viral infection”.
The 41-year-old singer apologised to fans in Auckland, New Zealand after being forced to scrap her first show in the country since 2019, which was set to take place on Tuesday (20.10.26).
She wrote on her Instagram Story: “To my West End Girls in Auckland, I am so sorry to have to tell you that I have come down with a viral infection and am unable to perform tonight.
“I was really looking forward to seeing you all and am absolutely gutted to be letting you down.
“For those who have traveled all the way here, please accept my apology.”
The Smile hitmaker noted that “all tickets will be refunded”, and she is hoping “to be able to come back to see you soon”.
She added: “Thank you so much for understanding.”
The show’s promoter Frontier Touring reposted Lily’s announcement to its own Instagram account.
They wrote: “Wishing @lilyallen a speedy recovery.”
Lily is currently touring the world supporting her West End Girl tour, which underwent a significant shift during its North American leg over the summer.
The star admitted that low ticket sales were behind the reshuffle, which saw several arena shows switched to theatres, and one gig in Montreal cancelled altogether.
Last month, Lily told The Cut magazine: “The ticket sales weren’t there. I think people sometimes have a misconception about artist greed.
“And, you know, maybe there are artists who are greedy, but let me tell you a little bit about the mechanics of how these things work:
“I don’t call up MSG and all of these other venues and say, ‘I’d like to book these dates, please. Thank you very much. I think I can fill these arenas.’ “
Lily explained how the “company’s own promoters have data machines that tell them whether they’re going to be able to sell these tickets”.
An artist is then offered a “certain amount” and told that the company has faith they “can sell out tickets”.
She continued: “I felt a little bit uneasy about it from the start. I said to my manager, ‘Are you sure? This seems like a stretch.’
“And he was like, ‘This is what they’re telling me.’ So we accepted it. And as time went on, it just looked like it wasn’t gonna happen.”