It’s been a grim week for our rock heroes on the road: Heart and Neil Young have both canceled their 2024 tours due to illnesses. Ann Wilson, Heart’s lead singer, shared on July 2 that a cancer diagnosis will render her unable to perform until 2025 at the earliest. “I recently underwent an operation to remove something that, as it turns out, was cancerous,†she wrote. “The operation was successful and I’m feeling great but my doctors are now advising me to undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I’ve decided to do it.†Wilson said she “absolutely†plans to continue the band’s tour — which was already a bit of a logistical miracle with Ann and her sister, Nancy Wilson, overcoming years of estrangement — next year.
Heart’s cancellation follows Young and Crazy Horse last week, as “a couple of†band members got too sick to continue jamming. (It’s unspecified which of the four members are ill.) “We are still not fully recovered, so sadly our great tour will have a big unplanned break,†they explained in a June 26 statement. “We will try to play some of the dates we miss as time passes when we are ready to rock again.†At least Willie Nelson and his fabulous braids are cleared to perform again after an outlaw-sanctioned medical leave. That said, paging Dr. Wu, is Donald Fagen still doing okay?