Singer Lola Young cancels a second show after collapsing onstage
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British singer-songwriter Lola Young performs on stage during the MTV Video Music Awards in New York on Sept 7.
PHOTO: AFP
Derrick Bryson Taylor
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NEW YORK – British pop star Lola Young cancelled her second show in three days after collapsing onstage at a music festival in New York City on Sept 27.
In an Instagram story on Sept 28, Young, known for her breakout hit Messy (2024), announced that she would not perform at the All Things Go festival in Columbia, Maryland, later that day.
Apologising to “those who will be disappointed” by the cancellation, the 24-year-old wrote: “I love this job and I never take my commitments and audience for granted.”
She did not offer a specific reason for the cancellation, but added: “To all the people that love to be mean online, please give me a day off.”
The cancellation of the show in Maryland came a day after Young collapsed onstage at a leg of the All Things Go festival in the Forest Hills neighbourhood of the New York City borough of Queens, and two days after she cancelled a performance at the We Can Survive concert at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey.
At the time, a representative said that cancellation was because of “a sensitive matter”.
Videos of Young’s collapse on Sept 27 that were posted on social media show the singer mouthing something to a band member while performing her song Conceited (2023). Young then fell backwards to the ground. Staff quickly surrounded her and carried her offstage.
In an Instagram story on Sept 27, Young said she was “doing okay now” and thanked her fans for their support. She did not cite a cause for her collapse.
Representatives for Young and for the All Things Go festival did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sept 28.
After the abrupt cancellation of Young’s performance in New Jersey on Sept 26, her manager Nick Shymansky issued a statement on social media.
“Lola is very open about her mental health and there are very occasionally days where myself and my team have to take protective measures to keep her safe,” Mr Shymansky wrote, according to Billboard. “She is an incredible person and always takes her fans, career and performances seriously. I can only send huge apologies for the inconvenience caused.”
Before her collapse on Sept 27, Young spoke from the stage about a “tricky couple of days”.
“Sometimes life can really make you feel like you can’t continue,” she said. “Today, I woke up and made the decision to come here.”
Young added that she did not want to “wallow” in her sadness. “Sometimes, life can throw you lemons,” she said, and you have to “make lemonade”, emphasising the point with an expletive.
Lola Young said she was “doing okay now” in an Instagram story on Sept 27 and thanked her fans for their support.
PHOTO: AFP
Young has often been described as a diaristic artiste unafraid to use her lyrics to share private details of her life, including her struggles to get sober.
In a recent profile in The New York Times, she openly described the tensions in her life. She has a history of substance abuse and mental illness. As a teenager, she was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Mr Shymansky, who managed Amy Winehouse, the British singer who struggled with drug and alcohol abuse before her death in 2011 at age 27, said he believed that Young could “work with her mental health stuff, work with her demons – I believe she can grow, be huge”.
He added: “I want her to have it in 2025 in a way that Amy could never have it.” NYTIMES
