Fugees Cancel ‘The Score’ 25th Anniversary Reunion Tour Amid COVID Concerns

One Last Performance
Johnny Nunez/WireImage via Getty Images – One Last Performance
The Fugees performed for Global Citizen Live at Pier 17 in New York City on Sept. 22, 2021 ahead of the postponement and subsequent cancellation of their reunion tour

After exciting fans with the news that they would be performing together for the first time in 15 years, The Fugees have announced they will no longer be embarking on their reunion tour. 

Originally announced last fall in celebration of the 25th anniversary for their critically acclaimed sophomore LP, The Score, The Fugees had postponed their original 11 tour dates from last November to March 2022, prior to the cancellation of the rescheduled dates. 

The trio made up of Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel cited concerns over COVID-19 for the reunion tour’s initial postponement. Before pushing back their tour, The Fugees played one pop-up performance in New York City on Sept. 22 as part of Global Citizen Live. The rest of the tour would have seen them playing in Chicago, Oakland, Calif., Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Paris, London, Nigeria and Ghana. The tour’s original dates were expected to take place from Nov. 2 – Dec. 18.

The cancelation of their tour was announced via the group’s Instagram, with The Fugees citing the pandemic as making touring conditions difficult. With the constant rescheduling of tour dates amid the pandemic, supply chain shortages have become common in the industry. 

“We anticipate and understand disappointment but our anniversary tour will not be able to happen,” The Fugees said in an online statement announcing their tour’s cancelation. “The continued Covid pandemic has made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe. An idea sparked to honor and celebrate this 25th anniversary of The Score but we see now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work. We’re grateful for the special night we did get to share with some of you in New York, with that rare live moment. If opportunity, public safety, and scheduling allow, we hope to be able to revisit this again sometime soon.”

Prior to The Fugees’ one-off in New York City last fall, the group’s last performance had been at an outdoor concert on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Calif. on Feb. 6, 2006. The group had been touring together from 2004 to 2006 ahead of that last performance after reuniting from a hiatus that began in 1997. The Score remains the best-selling album ever by a hip-hop group with 22 million copies sold worldwide, and the record was certified seven times platinum in 2021.