Bruce Springsteen Ill, Postpones Philadelphia Shows

Bruce Springsteen was forced to postpone tour dates in Philadelphia, hours before his first concert was set to take place, due to illness.

The news was confirmed in a statement posted to the 73-year-old rock icon's official social media accounts on Wednesday.

"Due to Bruce Springsteen having been taken ill, his concerts with The E Street Band at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on August 16 and 18 have been postponed," the statement read.

"We are working on rescheduling the dates so please hold on to your tickets as they will be valid for the rescheduled shows."

With 90 shows in total, the tour began on Feb. 1 in Tampa, Florida, and is set to end on Dec. 12 in San Francisco, the Independent noted. This marks Springsteen and the E Street Band's first tour together since 2017.

In May, Springsteen and the E Street Band postponed several concerts, also "due to illness." No further details were provided but E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt shared his own update on social media, noting that the health concern was "nothing serious."

"No need to be anxious or afraid. Nothing serious," he wrote. "Just a temporary situation. We will all be back in full force very soon."

The announcement came several weeks after three of Springsteen's bandmates were forced to bow out of a performance earlier this year.

Van Zandt and violinist and vocalist Soozie Tyrell tested positive for COVID-19 shortly before their American Airlines Center concert in Dallas on Feb. 10, and Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa, who is a singer and guitarist, was also absent for undisclosed reasons, according to Billboard.

Last year, Springsteen faced backlash over the cost of tickets for the U.S. leg of his tour. Those hoping to see the rocker perform paid up to as much as $5,000 due to Ticketmaster's "dynamic pricing," which sees prices for certain "platinum tickets" placed throughout each venue increase with demand.

Springsteen's manager responded to the outcry, saying the pricing is "fair" for people wanting to see someone "universally regarded as among the very greatest artists of his generation."

"In pricing tickets for this tour, we looked carefully at what our peers have been doing," Jon Landau said in a statement to The New York Times. "We chose prices that are lower than some and on par with others."

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