"Acute anxiety" forces White Stripes to cancel US tour

The White Stripes, a wildly popular US rock band made up of Jack White and Meg White, has abruptly canceled their US tour due to health issue. According to a notice posted on Group’s Website, drummer Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety.

In the notice posted on September 12 on its official Website the band announced that “they are canceling their forthcoming tour due to health issues. Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety and is unable to travel at this time.”

The White Stripes also apologized to their fans, saying “We hate to let people down and are very sorry.” The punk blues duo is touring in support of their latest album Icky Thump, which was a UK chart-topper earlier this year.

The tour, which was scheduled to start with a show on Thursday (Sept. 13) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, included 18 concerts across US.

The affected dates are:

September 13 at Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque, N.M.
September 15 at City Limits Festival, Austin, Texas
September 16 at Stubbs Bar-B-Q, Austin, Texas
September 18 at Coors Ampitheatre, Chula Vista, Calif.
September 19 at The Forum, Inglewood, Calif.
September 21 at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, Calif.
September 24 at William A. Egan Civic Center, Anchorage, Ala.
September 26/27 at Paramount Ballroom, Seattle.
September 28 at Idaho Center Theater, Boise Idaho.
September 29 at E Center, Salt Lake City.
September 30 at Snow King Center, Jackson Hole.
October 2 at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Rapid City, S.D.
October 3 at Civic Auditorium, Fargo, N.D.
October 4 at Pershing Center Auditorium, Lincoln, Neb.
October 6/7 at Aragon Ballroomm, Chicago.
October 10 at Neal S Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ticket holders have been advised to get refunds at the point of purchase.

No announcement has yet been made by the American punk-rockers about their tour of the U.K., which is due to kick off on October 24 at Glasgow's SECC, visiting Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Cardiff, Sheffield and Nottingham, before ending up at London's The O2 Arena on the 2nd of November.

This is not the first time the group from Detroit, Michigan, has cancelled their tour due to health issues, instead in 2006, the band was forced to axe four concerts in Japan after the singer Jack White suffered an acute vocal cord problem and was instructed to not speak or sing for the next two weeks in order to protect his vocal cords and speed recovery.

In 2003, White Stripes singer/guitarist Jack White was injured in a car crash in his native Detroit, suffering a compound fracture to his left index finger. The injury, which prevented White from playing guitar, consequently forced the band to pull out of headlining slots on two major European festivals.

The announcement of the White Stripes’ American tour cancellation comes days after a British pop singer Lily Allen and another British jazz-R&B singer Amy Winehouse cancelled their US tour. The British pop sensation Lilly Allen has cancelled her eagerly awaited tour for the second time.

Founded in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan, the White Stripes are a Grammy Award-winning American rock music duo comprising singer/guitarist Jack White, born as John Anthony Gillis and drummer Meg White, full name Megan Martha White. For years, it was reported that Jack and Meg were brother and sister, but numerous sources have proven that they are actually a divorced couple.

The duo first performed publicly on July 14, the Bastille Day. The group began receiving more attention after Jack White's unceremonious exit from the Detroit garage-rock band The Go in 1999, and rose to prominence as part of the garage rock revival with their successful albums, White Blood Cells and Elephant.

The pair, who is never seen dressed in anything other than red or white, is known for their raw, low-fidelity sound and simplicity of composition and arrangement, mostly inspired by punk rock, hard rock, American blues, folk rock, and country music.