Maroon 5 Cancels China Tour Dates: Keyboardist’s Tweet To Blame?
Maroon 5 has reportedly canceled multiple upcoming performances in China earlier this week.
Us Weekly reports that the popular band led by singer Adam Levine officially cancelled two scheduled tour dates on Thursday, July 16.
According to the report, the decision for Maroon 5 to back out of the previously scheduled performances might have something to do with a now-deleted controversial tweet posted by one of the band’s members.
Maroon 5 cancels its China tour dates, and it may have something to do with a tweet about the Dalai Lama http://t.co/rFPkKFs4hQ
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) July 20, 2015
Maroon 5 keyboardist Jesse Carmichael reportedly tweeted a controversial message about the Dalai Lama earlier this month. Us Weekly claims that the now-deleted tweet, which was initially posted on July 6, stated that the Dalai Lama “sang happy birthday to his holiness.”
Maroon 5 forced to abandon China concert after Dalai Lama tweets http://t.co/WzqhcCj55D via @MailOnline pic.twitter.com/Mtzqs3AuOm — 2cc (@365tablets) July 18, 2015
The Dalai Lama has lived in India for nearly 56 years after he was exiled in 1959.
TimeOut Beijing published a blog about the situation (and its potential aftermath) earlier this week.
“Maroon 5 has reportedly ‘pulled out’ from their Beijing show. We use the phrasing loosely, since we hear musings about Maroon 5 being prevented from performing by our political friends up above. At an ‘important exiled spiritual leader’s’ recent birthday summit in California, one of Maroon 5’s members was said to be in attendance – and, if Linkin Park and James Blake are good enough examples, this is all an artist needs to get a big X on their visa application.”
As mentioned in the blog, Maroon 5 is apparently not the first rock band that was targeted in China due to its association with the Dalai Lama.
In the summer of 2011, Linkin Park attended a youth conference in Los Angeles along with a high number of other celebrities and popular people – including the Dalai Lama.
According to the China Music Radar, the communication that occurred during that conference may have led to the popular rock band being banned.
“The two groups overlapped and there are photos all over the web with members of the band on a stage with the ‘High Lama.’ Hugs and handshakes were exchanged and it is pretty clear for those caring to notice that they were pretty chummy… Unfortunately, someone inside the local hierarchy here in the Middle Kingdom have decided that Linkin Park are no longer welcome in China, certainly for this tour, and perhaps for the longer term too.”
In addition to Linkin Park, Maroon 5 joins a growing list of other popular musical acts – such as Bjork, James Blake, and Oasis – when it comes to this type of controversial conflict.
[Image Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
