Elton John Cancels Eight Shows After Infection, Intensive Care Visit

A “harmful and unusual bacterial infection” has forced Elton John to cancel his upcoming April and May run of “The Million Dollar Piano” gigs at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, as well as his May 6th show in Bakersfield, California.

The singer contracted the illness on a recent tour of South America and became violently ill on a flight home from Santiago, Chile. He spent two nights in intensive care at a U.K. hospital, where he received treatment to remove the infection and was released on April 22nd.

“Thankfully, Elton’s medical team identified this quickly and treated it successfully,” the singer’s rep wrote in a statement. “He is expected to make a full and complete recovery.”

The singer plans on returning to the stage on June 3rd for a performance in Twickenham, England. He currently has no other dates to perform in the U.S. this year.

“I am so fortunate to have the most incredible and loyal fans and apologize for disappointing them,” John said in a statement. “I am extremely grateful to the medical team for their excellence in looking after me so well.”

Fans who purchased tickets via credit card will receive refunds on the card they used to buy the tickets. Those who paid in cash should return to the original point of sale for a refund.

John originally was to perform in Sin City from April 25th until May 5th at the casino outpost, where he would play a piano decked out with 68 LED video screens he claims is worth $1 million. He first played his Million Dollar Piano show at the same venue in September 2011 and has played there every year since. A video release of his 2012 residency, also titled The Milloin Dollar Piano, was broadcast in cinemas and released in stores in April 2014. He played a leg of Million Dollar Piano gigs there this past February.

Source: rollingstone.com