Ms. Lauryn Hill & the Fugees Subtly Cancel 2024 US Reunion Tour
“Ready or not…” ’cause they ain’t comin’. Ms Lauryn Hill does what Ms. Lauryn Hill does with the non-surprising cancellation of yet another tour, this time with her old bandmates
No one was surprised by this bit of news. No one.
Another cancellation is on the books from Ms. Lauryn Hill and her recently-announced world tour to promote the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Just three days before the first show of the announced dates in Tampa, Fl., cancellations were being reported in the emails of ticketholders and Ticketmaster dates were being pulled from their website.
No word about the reasons behind the cancellation. And reps for Hill and the tour promoter, Live Nation, did not immediately respond to requests from the media for comment.
But news quickly flared when fans posted screenshots of their email notices, showing messages stating, “Your event has been canceled. A refund will be on its way to your account soon.”
The tour, billed as 25th anniversary tour of Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, was set to begin on Friday in Tampa, with the American leg climaxing at the Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 17 and shows in New York and New Jersey on Sept. 20-21. Other cities that were originally scheduled included Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston and Milwaukee — eighteen U.S. dates in all.
According to reporting at Pitchfork, tickets for the tour’s European leg remain on sale. Variety added similar details, citing that the overseas leg of the tour would begin in Manchester, England on October 12, hitting cities like London and Paris before concluding in Amsterdam on October 22.
It’s not the first time they pulled the plug on a tour aimed at celebrating the milestone anniversary. Back in summer 2023, Hill announced a similar tour after a few successful one-off reunions including their first reunion in fifteen years at a Global Citizen Live benefit while celebrating their own 25th anniversary of their magnum opus LP, The Score – a disc that yielded hip-hop classics like “Ready or Not,” “Fu-Gee-La” and their modern retelling of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.” A headlining reunion at the Roots’ Picnic in Philadelphia also transpired, even as Pras learned the news of being found guilty by a federal jury involving conspiracy, witness tampering, and failing to register as an agent of China.
A tour was later announced in August, with both Hill and the Fugees serving as co-headliners, but was yanked abruptly before it could really take off. Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras posted a joint statement claiming the continuing pandemic forced them to postpone the remainder of the tour. “The continued COVID pandemic has made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe.” The trio ended their statement with a grim reality regarding its fate: “We see now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work.”
In July this year, Hill did make a rare appearance at the 2024 BET Music Awards, performing alongside her son YG Marley. The mini-set included the title cut to her solo album, “Lost Ones” and a surprising live reunion with Wyclef Jean on “Fu-Gee-La.” But the appearance felt like an afterthought when Hill was noticeably absent during a 30th year anniversary of Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit on the ABC daytime talk show The View. Principal cast members including The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kathy Najimy along with musical contributors Marc Shaiman and Mervyn Warren were all present, including choir members from the film. When their jubilant climax celebration of “Oh, Happy Day” went viral, memes quickly circulated pointing out Hill’s absence. Yup, the press picked it up, while others like TikToker stefmariecole celebrated her fill-in Tonya Blount on the big number, remarking “I’m not mad LH didn’t show up; this was meant to be.”
For much of her career, Hill has developed a solid reputation of canceling performance dates and appearing late during concerts. Meme culture and Black Twitter has fueled those conversations in public spaces on social media.
Examples like:
One good note of publicity this year for Ms. Hill. Back in May, Zane Love & Co. over at Apple Music crowned the zesty hip-hop soul album of 1998 as their number one of all time in their 100 Best Albums survey, putting the one and only studio effort of Hill above essential albums like Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Prince’s Purple Rain, the Beatles’ Abbey Road, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?, the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life. She was on time with her response. During an intimate dinner honoring the songstress given by Apple Music, she commented, “This is my award, but it’s a rich, deep narrative and involves so many people, and so much sacrifice, and so much time, and so much collective love.”
But with this week’s non-surprising announcement, those hysterical memes, rapid-fire jokes and mean tweets show no signs of slowing down.
