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Elton John postpones next show to recover from pneumonia

By | Published on Tuesday 18 February 2020

Elton John

The next concert on Elton John’s retirement tour will be postponed 24 hours, promoters have confirmed, to allow the musician to recover from a bout of walking pneumonia. It’s hoped that he will then be able to complete the rest of his New Zealand and Australian dates, which include another Auckland show and seven concerts in Australia.

John went ahead with his Sunday night show in Auckland but was forced to end the concert early after losing his voice. He subsequently wrote on Instagram: “I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia earlier today, but I was determined to give you the best show humanly possible. I played and sang my heart out, until my voice could sing no more. I’m disappointed, deeply upset and sorry. I gave it all I had”.

The promoter of the New Zealand and Australian shows, Chugg Entertainment, confirmed earlier today that John was now resting and doctors were confident he would recover. However, said doctors have advised he push back his Tuesday show to Wednesday night.

Anyone with a ticket for tonight’s concert unable to make the rescheduled performance tomorrow can obtain a refund. Though, obviously, that won’t apply to any other costs ticket-buyers incur, such as travel and accommodation, unless they are independently insured. Though local media say that Air New Zealand plans to offer concert-goers some flexibility if they need to reschedule flights because of the postponed show.

There was chatter in the New Zealand media yesterday over whether those who attended Sunday night’s cut short show would also be due any kind of refund, even though John’s audience seemed incredibly supportive as he tearfully abandoned his performance.

Promoters have indicated that there is currently no plan to issue any refunds, though one consumer rights expert told Stuff that – if any ticket-goers were to push it – there would be grounds for a partial refund under the country’s Consumer Guarantees Act.



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