With air travel restrictions enforced in countries severely affected by COVID-19, our local celebrities are feeling the pinch as more and more major overseas events are cancelled by the day.
DJs Prince Kaybee and Black Coffee, Electronic band Goodluck Live, and veteran broadcaster, MC and author Redi Tlhabi have all received news of the cancellation of major contract deals for appearances overseas.
Taking to Twitter,Tlhabi who has a successful career as an MC and guest speaker, shared the news of the cancellation of six engagements which were all based in the USA.
She wrote: “My bank balance is suddenly empty. Had 6 US events between March and May, all cancelled. I’m glad. Broke but healthy. On a serious and broader note, recession, global markets plus Coronaviruses, makes for a gloomy time. Tough times.”
My bank balance is suddenly empty????????????. Had 6 US events between March and May, all cancelled. I'm glad. Broke but healthy ????????. On a serious and broader note, recession, global markets plus Coronaviruses, makes for a gloomy time. Tough times. https://t.co/Pv1AbcGfDL
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) March 12, 2020
Black Coffee was due to perform at Coachella for the first time in his career but on 11th March it was announced by the organisers that the music festival had been cancelled. It has since been moved to two consecutive October weekends, October 9–11 and October 16–18 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Coachella, which is situated in a California county and usually attracts crowd of around 250 000, has reported multiple cases of the coronavirus.
Cape Town band Goodluck Live has also like Tlhabi, had six gigs cancelled. They were booked to perform at the SXSW festival, Ultra Miami and Tomorrowland Winter - all theses events have been cancelled as well as three performances scheduled in Vietnam.
Writing on Instagram Juliet Harding, lead singer for the group said: “As scary as it is to have shows cancelled, tours cancelled and the future looking so uncertain, we also have a duty as artists to help curb the spread of this virus. We have seen how effective it is to lay low for a while to prevent the further spread of Covid19. It might mean we have to get creative and use the time to take stock of where we are and what is important and in some ways, this is a good thing... Our minds have been so cluttered with overthinking, stress and anxiety for so long. Also, there have been a lot of environmental benefits to this simpler way of living - apparently, there is a blue sky again over Wuhan.”
She also thanked fans who “ are still buying and streaming our music we are grateful for your support.”
House music DJ and producer, Prince Kaybee was forced to cancel a show in Turkey and has taken to wearing a mask while travelling.
Meanwhile, ordinary citizens are now in 'lockdown' after the address to the nation by President Cyril Ramaphosa last night.
