Rod Stewart cancels Australian tour

THERE will be no night on the town with Rod Stewart in Geelong this year, with the British rocker cancelling his entire tour of Australia and New Zealand.

“The Hits! Tour” was to include nine stops, including at Mount Duneed Estate under the A Day on the Green umbrella originally set for October 31, 2020 but later rescheduled to March 19 this year.

Last week, Live Nation and Roundhouse Entertainment announced the tour had “regrettably” been cancelled “due to the ongoing surge of COVID in Australia and the reimposition of indoor entertainment venue capacity limits in several states”, and all ticket holders ould receive an automatic refund.

“My dear friends, once again I feel we’ve all been cheated by this evil disease, so it is with great regret that I announce my shows for 2022 have had to be cancelled,” Stewart said.

“My thoughts are with all your families at this difficult time as we come out of the joyous and hopefully safe holiday season and I look forward to returning to Australia as soon as the health situation permits.

“I’m absolutely gutted with disappointment and when I do eventually get there we‘ll have the party to end all parties. Guaranteed!”

Only the original credit card holder will receive a refund. If you received your ticket(s) any other way, including via “Ticket Forward”, you will need to contact the original credit card holder for your refund.

Due to the number of cancellations, the refund process is taking slightly longer than usual. Ticketholders do not need to do anything; Ticketmaster will issue a refund for their tickets onto the original credit card used to buy the tickets.

Blessed with a gloriously raspy voice, Stewart is one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll singers of all time.

While fronting The Faces in the early ’70s, Stewart emerged as a solo superstar and has since scored 16 songs in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

He has sold more than 250 million records worldwide during a stellar career that includes 10 #1 albums and 26 Top 10 singles in the UK, plus 17 Top 10 albums and 16 Top 10 singles in the US.

As a singer and songwriter his hits include “Gasoline Alley”, “Every Picture Tells a Story”, “Mandolin Wind”, “You Wear It Well”, “The Killing of Georgie”, “Tonight’s the Night”, “You’re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim)”, “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”, “Young Turks”, “Forever Young”, “Hot Legs”, “Infatuation”, and “Maggie May”.

He was knighted in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.

The other A Day on the Green concerts at the Mount Duneed Estate winery this year are still scheduled to go ahead, including Midnight Oil on March 5, The Squeeze 2022 on April 16 and The Killers on December 10.