The Cure’s keyboardist has pulled out of the band’s Latin America tour due to “health reasons”.
Roger O’Donnell – who has been performing with Robert Smith and co on-and-off since 1897 – has been forced to skip the shows as he recovers from an unknown medical condition.
In a social media statement, the ‘Lovecats’ group said: “We are sure you will join with us in wishing him the speediest of recoveries.”
He will be replaced by Mike Lord for the dates, which kick off in Mexico City on November 19.
Earlier this year, the band cancelled over 7,000 tickets to their US tour in a bid to tackle touts.
Frontman Robert has been vocal about his desire for fans to see the group’s show without paying inflated prices while also restricting ticket transfers in markets where he was legally allowed to do so in places like New York, Illinois, and Colorado – which have all enacted legislation protecting resellers – and, in April, he confirmed listings on secondary resale sites had been blocked.
He tweeted: “Approx 7k tickets across approx 2200 orders have been cancelled. These are tickets acquired with fake accounts / listed on secondary resale sites. TM have identified specific locations from secondary postings.(sic)”
He urged fans who felt their orders had been “wrongly cancelled” to contact Ticketmaster customer services.
Earlier in the day, he had warned ticket buyers not to try and “get around” transferring rules or also face cancellations.
He wrote: “OFFERING TO SELL/SEND ACCOUNT LOGIN DETAILS TO GET AROUND TM TRANSFER LIMITATIONS… ANY/ALL TICKETS OBTAINED IN THIS WAY WILL BE CANCELED, AND ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL NOT BE REFUNDED.
“..ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL BE DONATED TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, AND THE TICKETS THEMSELVES WILL BE RESOLD TO FANS.(sic)”
Fans secured partial refunds after the ‘Friday I’m In Love’ singer said he was “sickened” by the inflated fees being charged by Ticketmaster, with some gig-goers claiming the add-on was more than the ticket price itself.
He wrote: “I am sickened as you all are by today’s Ticketmaster fees debacle. To be clear: the artist has no way to limit them. I have been asking how they are justified. If I get anything coherent by way of an answer I will let you all know.”
However, Ticketmaster bosses seemingly heeded Smith’s complaints and the veteran rocker later confirmed many fans would be getting some of their money back.
The Cure kicked off their 2023 North American dates on May 10 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and concluded the trek on July 1 in Miami, Florida.