Queens Of The Stone Age have pulled upcoming European tour dates because frontman Josh Homme has been taken seriously ill. The band were due to play gigs in both Koln and Berlin, and then three gigs in one night in London, over the next ten days, however those have been cancelled after Homme began coughing up blood in his hotel room in Paris earlier this week. The band hope to reschedule the cancelled gigs.
A statement from the band's management said: "Queens Of The
Stone Age were forced to halt their mini-tour on Tuesday, 22
Feb after singer Josh Homme began coughing up blood in his Paris hotel room. What doctors in Amsterdam initially diagnosed as the flu was found to be a serious lung infection. This resulted in his immediate return to the United States."
On their website the band added: "We've toured with everything from broken ankles to bruised livers, but simply weren't prepared for this relentless attack of teeming bacteria. Our fans know that we ain't pussies and this is an obvious downer for everyone involved. All we really wanted to do was play our new tunes for everybody, and turn this "promo tour" into more of a party. So, for those of you with any unused tickets, hold on to them. We'll be back as soon as possible to make up these shows, and when we do, we'll have something special for all of you with an un-ripped ticket. We ain't in the habit of cancelling, and we don't forget."
No word yet on what Homme's illness means for the band's US tour, due to begin on 15 Mar.