Why older musicians are cancelling tours and what does it mean for the industry?

Since the start of this year, Ozzy Osbourne, 71, had to cancel his 2020 tour to seek treatment. Elton John, 72, had to ditch dates after declaring himself “extremely unwell”. Madonna, 61, was forced to scratch a bunch of shows due to “overwhelming pain”. Aerosmith had to scratch dates due to various health issues experienced by Steven Tyler. The 56-year-old frontman of Metallica, James Hetfield, needed to cancel shows to look after his health. Beforehand, Paul Simon stopped touring at 78, Bob Seger at 74, Kiss aged between 68 to 70, Neil Diamond at 79, and Eric Clapton at 74. Guardian is trying to find consequences of this change, and it's quite simple. According to Pollstar, five out of the top 10 worldwide tours of the last year featured band members over the age of 50, which makes them the cornerstone of touring, especially since the audience who attends shows by older stars has the deepest pockets, raising profits for everyone. In general, the touring industry is generally estimated to generate between $50-60bn worldwide.