After two years of quarantine, music lovers and concert goers alike anticipate seeing their favorite artists live, gathering thousands of people in a compact venue to sing and dance to music for hours.

Some artists are canceling their world tours due to an increase in global COVID cases.  Adele, Niall Horan, Shawn Mendes and other artists have delayed their tour or fully canceled their touring dates.

Many artists like Harry Styles, Elton John and Tyler, The Creator and Louis Tomlinson, who have decided to continue their arena touring, often require a negative COVID test or a vaccination card, and all attendees must wear a mask correctly. 

Many fans find it controversial for artists to continue touring while COVID rates continue to climb, claiming that their favorite artists don’t truly care for the health and safety of their fans.

However, the increase in COVID cases and regulations does not seem to affect the turnout for most artists; concert venues are still selling out of tickets. For example, Harry Styles sold out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row at the end of October 2021, where he required a negative COVID test or vaccination card and for all attendees to wear a mask correctly.

Local bands tour in order to continue to grow a fan base. Though the COVID numbers are high, smaller bands get much of their pay playing for venues and ticket sales, choosing to halt their tour until COVID numbers lower would result in a major loss of money for them. With the rapid growth in the music industry, it’s difficult for local bands to continue to grow without media coverage. 

According to the CDC, a total of 77,179,255 COVID-19 cases have been reported as of Feb. 9, and even as cases decline, the timing of many artists’ tours is up in the air.