TORONTO -- Pearl Jam blasted the U.S. government after the Seattle-based rockers announced the band has postponed their highly anticipated North American tour, which was set to kick off in Toronto next week, over coronavirus fears.
Eddie Vedder and company made the "most unfortunate of announcements" Monday evening.
"So it is with deep frustration and regret that we are forced to make this most unfortunate of announcements...," the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees said in a statement. "This scheduled first leg of our PJ/Gigaton tour will need to be postponed and shows rescheduled for a later date."
The band also blasted the U.S. government's handling of the contagion.
"It certainly hasn’t helped that there’s been no clear messages from our government regarding people’s safety and our ability to go to work," Pearl Jam said. "Having no examples of our national health department’s ability to get ahead of this, we have no reason to believe that it will be under control in the coming weeks ahead."
The first leg of the 2020 tour was set to open in Toronto on March 18, before playing gigs in Ottawa, Quebec City and Hamilton, Ont. From there, the band was to play 12 shows in the U.S., wrapping up the North American portion of the tour in Oakland, Calif. on April 19.
The band acknowledged their home city of Seattle has "been hit hard" by COVID-19 and "have witnessed firsthand how quickly these disastrous situations can escalate."
According to Johns Hopkins University, the city of Seattle has recorded 167 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 23 deaths as result of the virus. As of Tuesday, one person has recovered while 143 active cases remain in the city.
Pearl Jam is still scheduled to hit the road on June 23, opening the European leg of the tour in Frankfurt, Germany.
