Rap superstar cancels previously postponed tour dates
Ticketholders learned the remainder of the Anita Max Win Tour was canceled on Tuesday, July 29 (Australia time).
'Live Nation Australia regrets to inform you that the previously postponed Drake shows in Australia and New Zealand have now been officially cancelled,' a statement from Live Nation read.
'Despite extensive efforts to find a solution, rescheduling within the necessary timeframe was not possible,' it continued. 'Drake remains committed to returning and performing these shows when his schedule permits.'
Anyone who bought tickets for the shows will be refunded. Ticketholders should check their email for information on the refund process, Live Nation said.
Originally announced in November 2024, Drake's Anita Max Win Tour was the rapper's first visit to Oceania since 2017, according to Billboard. The 16-date sold-out tour started in February 2025 with shows in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. While the tour was supposed to end in early March, it was announced on Feb. 26 that the remaining four gigs had been postponed due to a 'scheduling conflict.'
Drake's representatives wrote in a statement at the time that the rapper's team was 'actively working on rescheduling these dates along with adding some additional shows,' Rolling Stone AU/NZ reported. However, no further updates came.
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'Lose Control' and 'Beautiful Things' haven't fallen off the charts as most songs naturally do, which helps to elevate newer, similar-sounding songs like 'Ordinary.' Though these songs walk the line between pop and rock, it's happening in country music as well, as Shaboozey's 'Good News' and Bailey Zimmerman's 'Backup Plan' also hold firm. Unlike their pop-rock counterparts, they're less about women and more about overcoming bad behavior and bad circumstances to achieve something more in life. Keith Urban tells my colleague Taryn Ryder that it's understandable that country songs have become part of the secular praise trend. 'So much of country music is the existence between a hellacious Saturday night and a redemptive Sunday morning pew,' says the country star, who's currently on his High and Alive tour, says. 'That's so much of where country resides is in those dualities of the human experience.' 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'Musical tastes are cyclical, and this format is resonating right now because people are craving emotional release,' Roberts says. 'We're living in a time where everything feels loud — digitally, socially, politically. These songs slow things down, pull you in gently and then give you that euphoric burst in the chorus. It's a structure that mimics the arc of a personal breakthrough.' Amen. Solve the daily Crossword