Eagles of Death Metal cancel Europe gigs after singer’s injury

PARIS, France – Eagles of Death Metal cancelled the rest of their European tour Friday after frontman Jesse Hughes injured himself during their hugely emotional return to Paris three months after jihadist gunmen massacred 90 people at the band’s last concert in the city.

The lead singer ripped a tendon in his finger during the gig at the Olympia theatre with hundreds of survivors of the horrific November attack on the Bataclan concert hall in the audience, including some still in wheelchairs or on crutches because of their wounds.

“I was so nervous I think I’ve snapped a tendon in my middle finger,” Hughes told the audience minutes after smashing an out-of-tune guitar to cheers from the crowd.

But the promoters of the band’s Mon Amis (“My Friends”) tour – renamed in honor of the Bataclan victims – said doctors warned Hughes to stop after a concert in Brussels on Thursday.

“Eagles of Death Metal have unfortunately been forced to cancel the final dates of their European tour after their founder Jesse Hughes ripped a tendon,” Nous Productions said in a statement.

“Doctors warned him that the only way it would heal was for him to stop playing immediately if he didn’t want to worsen the injury, which would mean him having to cancel even more shows,” it added.

A tearful Hughes, 43, who told AFP before the Paris gig how he feared “falling to pieces on stage”, said he was heartbroken by the setback.

“I am devastated not to be able to go on with this return to Europe which has changed our lives,” the Californian showman said.

“But I have to heal so that I can continue to play rock all over this marvelous world and come back to Europe stronger still this summer.”

Fans who have bought tickets for the final eight dates, which include concerts in the French cities of Nimes and Lille as well as in Italy, Spain and Portugal, will be reimbursed, the promoters said.

The attack on the Bataclan was the bloodiest in a series of gun and suicide bomb attacks across the French capital on November 13 in which 130 people died.

The band’s record company Universal told AFP that they were as yet unaware of the cancelation but they were following developments.

The band had announced extra tour dates in the US and Canada in April and May. – Rappler.com