Santigold Cancels Tour, Cites 'Unsustainable' Industry

Her tour was to start in less than two weeks
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 27, 2022 3:53 PM CDT
Santigold Cancels Tour Over 'Truth of What It's Like Out Here'
   (Getty Images / anyaberkut)

We're all eager to "make up for lost time" in the wake of COVID lockdowns, but for the singer Santigold, rushing into that was like barreling into a brick wall. The musician announced on her website that she has decided to cancel her North American tour, which Rolling Stone reports was slated to start Oct. 9. Santigold explained at length what she and others found when they "rushed back out ... when it was deemed safe to do shows. We were met with the height of inflation—gas, tour buses, hotels, and flight costs skyrocketed—many of our tried-and-true venues unavailable due to a flooded market of artists trying to book shows in the same cities, and positive test results constantly halting schedules with devastating financial consequences."

That was layered "on top of the already-tapped mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional resources of just having made it through the past few years. Some of us are finding ourselves simply unable to make it work." She notes that she plans to share more on the subject, "because I think it’s important for people to know the truth of what it’s like out here for artists and I don’t believe enough of us are talking about it publicly," though she gives a nod to a few unnamed musicians who like her have recently canceled tours, "prioritizing themselves over the demands of a relentless industry."

She explains what those demands have felt like: As if she's been "trying to make it to the ever-distant finish line, but my vehicle’s been falling apart the whole time—the bumper fell off, the wheels one at a time, the steering wheel, and finally the whole bottom fell out. And here I am thinking, 'Should I just hold the doors up and run?' And my little heart that has been working way beyond its limits, my whole body in fact and my soul too, are screaming at me "NO muthaf----! Pull.The F---. Over!"

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She writes that she is proud of the decision she's made, "when it means that I am proclaiming that I, the person who writes the songs, is as important to me as the songs. I will not continue to sacrifice myself for an industry that has become unsustainable for, and uninterested in the welfare of the artists it is built upon." (More musician stories.)

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