Elton John said Friday he was “absolutely heartbroken” that his concert in Auckland, New Zealand was cancelled at the last minute due to torrential rains.
“I was at the venue and determined to play as the weather reports we received in advance weren’t fully conclusive,” he wrote in an Instagram Story. “Ultimately, we had to follow the local emergency services’ decision to cancel.
“The safety of my fans, our team, and staff at Mt Smart Stadium is of the utmost importance.”
Many thousands of the expected 40,000 fans were already at the venue when the promoter announced the show was being cancelled due to “unsafe weather conditions.”
John said he shared the “frustration and disappointment” of fans who “made it into the stadium only to have to leave.”
The 75-year-old singer was set to do the first of two shows in Auckland as part of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. (He performed in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier in the week.)
A decision hasn’t been made about Saturday’s concert but John said his team is “monitoring the situation closely with local authorities” and will advise fans “as soon as humanly possible of any changes.”
John is scheduled to resume his tour in England on March 23.
Friday’s concert is only the 10th the music legend has scrapped since he launched his final tour in 2018. Last February, two shows in Toronto and two in Montreal were canceled due to COVID-19 measures that limited capacity at venues.