Lily Allen canceled her first show in New Zealand in seven years on Tuesday night (Oct. 20) just hours before showtime due to illness. In an Instagram Story message to fans, the singer wrote, “To my West End Girls in Auckland, I am so sorry to have to tell you that I have come down with a viral infection and am unable to perform tonight.”
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The British singer was slated to kick off the Australia/New Zealand leg of her Lily Allen Performs West End Girl tour at Auckland’s Spark Arena, but waved off the show shortly before curtain, with promoter Frontier Touring wishing the singer a speedy recovery in an Instagram post informing ticketholders to expect refund instructions shortly.
In her statement, Allen, who hadn’t played NZ since 2019, continued, “I was really looking forward to seeing you all and am absolutely gutted to be letting you down. For those who traveled all the way here, please accept my apology. All tickets will be refunded and I hope to be able to come back to see you soon. Thank you so much for understanding.”
Allen is in the midst of a world tour in support of her acclaimed 2025 album West End Girl, which she performs in full during the shows. She is scheduled to play the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia on Friday (Oct. 23) and Sydney on Oct. 25, with the Australian tour slated to wrap on Nov. 1; at press time no other dates on the tour appear to be in jeopardy due to the singer’s illness.
Earlier this year, Allen reconfigured the routing for the North American leg of the tour after playing a series of theater shows in the spring. Allen was slated to play arenas in the fall, but in July she revealed, without comment, that shows in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver had been adjusted down to more intimate rooms.