UPDATE: Mick Jagger Reportedly Undergoing Heart Surgery, Rolling Stones Tour Postponed

THE ROLLING STONES
Dave J Hogan / Getty Images – THE ROLLING STONES
gearing up for their first North American tour since 2015, moved more than 750,000 tickets in Europe from just 13 markets in 2018.


UPDATE: The Drudge Report has been the first to report that Jagger is undergoing heart surgery, with Rolling Stone confirming. The report, citing unidentified sources, says Jagger is expected to be fully recovered by summer.

Previously:
The Rolling Stones are postponing their latest tour so Mick Jagger can receive medical treatment.
The band announced Saturday that Jagger was told by doctors “he cannot go on tour at this time.” The band added that Jagger “is expected to make a complete recovery so that he can get back on stage as soon as possible.”

No more details about 75-year-old Jagger’s condition were provided.

The Stones’ No Filter Tour was expected to start April 20 in Miami. Other stops included Jacksonville, Florida; Houston; the New Orleans Jazz Festival; Pasadena and Santa Clara in California; Seattle; Denver; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Foxborough, Massachusetts; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Chicago; and Ontario, Canada.

Jagger says in the statement he hates letting the fans down but he’s “looking forward to getting back on stage as soon as I can.”

Tour promoters AEG Presents and Concerts West advise ticketholders to hold on to their existing tickets because will be valid for the rescheduled dates. — Associated Press

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”und” dir=”ltr”><a href=”https://t.co/ZsUlAPQkRA”>pic.twitter.com/ZsUlAPQkRA</a></p>&mdash; The Rolling Stones (@RollingStones) <a href=”https://twitter.com/RollingStones/status/1111976609110724608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Any Stones tour is a big deal, but Mick and Co. hadn’t played North America since 2016’s Desert Trip and hadn’t toured North America since 2015.  The band’s status atop the upper echelon of touring means that even with just 14 shows in the UK and Europe last year, it still was No. 10 on Pollstar’s Year End Top 100 Worldwide Tours with $116.6 million grossed.  Similarly the band also did 14 shows in 2017 on its first United Kingdom/Europe No Filter Tour, which put them at No. 9 for the year with $120 million grossed.
Needless to say, the North American leg was highly anticipated, playing stadiums coast to coast including multiple dates at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and Solider Field in Chicago, with dates between many of the shows suggesting more could be added.  Longtime Stones promoters John Meglen and Paul Gongaware of Concerts West are known for pricing out scalpers on Stones tickets in particular, and the band has always been tops for production value as well as ticket price.
“We continue to find the sweet spot,” Meglen told Pollstar of the 2017 run. “It’s not about how much can we charge, it’s about how can we find what these seats are worth.” Meglen added that he and his team get direct feedback from fans on the road and that pricing requires a personalized touch, “Otherwise, you’re just treating artists like widgets, and you can’t do that,” he said.  
“If a ticket is worth more than what we’re selling it for, somebody is going to figure that out and make some money there. Like I said, I just want it on our side of the fence. Believe me, I know we’re not getting all of it, but we’re getting a hell of a lot more than we were 10 or 15 years ago.”
A statement by the New Orleans Jazz Festival, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and featured the Stones performance as one of the celebration’s hallmarks, confirmed the legendary band would not be appearing. “Details about the Festival’s May 2 music lineup will be announced as soon as they are finalized,” the statement read. “Information regarding May 2 ticket refunds and second weekend VIP package adjustments is forthcoming. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes and thank you for your patience.”
Let’s say you’re used to hiking big sand dunes in Brazil, and relatively speaking you then book Mount Everest. The Rolling Stones at Jazz Fest is a biblical prophecy. There’s a lot of big groups out there in the world, but this is the one. If there’s anything constant in all 50 years, it’s “We want the Stones at Jazz Fest.” Stones at Jazz Fest has been uttered millions of times. 

This is the 15th anniversary of our partnership with AEG. The only reason we have Katy Perry and The Rolling Stones is because AEG got them for us – pretty good partners to have (laughs). It’s been beyond heaven, it’s been really great.  When I got the call that this could be the year from Paul Gongaware from Concerts West, I’m like “woof.” Paul Gongaware never stopped trying to steer them to Jazz Fest – not convincing them it was a cool thing to do, they knew that. 

There were five or 10 touring scenarios that could have happened, it didn’t mean Jazz Fest was going to happen. But we fit in to the tour and they wanted to do it. I was already booking the day they landed on, because they weren’t on it yet and we were trying to make a great day. That day had Tom Jones, Ziggy Marley, Mavis Staples in the blues tent, and they land there. 

So now we have a festival day that has The Rolling Stones and Tom Jones on the same day! Okay? You gotta love it.
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