HONG KONG: Nearly a year after it was supposed to have ended, superstar K-pop boy band BTS have announced the cancellation of their 2020 Map of the Soul concert tour.
The tour had initially been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but on Friday the band's label, Big Hit Music, finally announced its cancellation.
"Our company has worked hard to resume preparations for the BTS Map of the Soul tour, knowing that all fans have been waiting eagerly and long for the tour," read a statement from the company, a subsidiary of Hybe Corp.
"However, due to changing circumstances beyond our control, it has become difficult to resume performances at the same scale and timeline as previously planned. Therefore we must announce the cancellation of the BTS Map of the Soul tour."
The 39-date concert series was originally planned to begin in Seoul in April 2020 and continue until September of last year, with the final planned dates in Japan after tour legs in Europe and North America. No Hong Kong date was announced.
News of the cancellation comes as the spread of the Delta variant of Covd-19 has triggered a tightening of pandemic restrictions across the world.
Concerts have resumed in some parts of the world, and there were initial hopes that BTS would be able to hold in-person concert events at least in South Korea, if not in other regions. But nothing ever came of them.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic last year, BTS have held several online concert events, with millions of fans from across the world joining in to watch them, including October 2020's "Map of the Soul ON: E", a virtual alternative to the planned concert series.
"Once again, please allow us to offer our sincere apology to all fans who have waited for the BTS Map of the Soul tour to resume. We are working to prepare a viable schedule and performance format that can meet your expectations, and we will provide updated notices as soon as possible," the band's label said.
