US rock band Pearl Jam cancelled a concert in Vienna on Wednesday afterward singer Eddie Vedder’s vocal chords were injured at an outdoor venue near Paris by the heat, dust and smoke from fires.
“To all those who were anticipating a great Pearl Jam show tonight in Vienna, we were too. However, due to the extreme circumstances at the last outdoor site outside of Paris (heat, dust, and smoke from the fires) our singer Ed Vedder’s throat was left damaged,” the group said in a proclamation posted on Instagram on Wednesday.
“He has seen doctors and had treatment but as of yet, his vocal cords have not recovered. This is brutal news and horrible timing…for everyone involved.”
Pearl Jam performed at the Lollapalooza Paris music festival at the weekend amongst a heat wave with spikes well above 40 Celsius (104F) in southern Europe.
Firefighters in southwestern France have been fighting since July 12 to contain enormous forest wildfires although Britain recorded its uppermost ever temperature on Tuesday.
“Those who work so hard to put on the shows as well as those who give their precious time and energies to attend…, as a band, we are deeply sorry and have tried to find options to still play,” Pearl Jam said.
“And Ed wants to play. There’s just no throat available at this time…So very, very deeply sorry.”
The band said tickets would be reimbursed.
Wednesday’s Vienna concert was part of Pearl Jam’s European tour, with the next stop planned in Prague on Friday…Reuters