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After several postponements, COVID has forced the tour’s cancellation.

Korean idol group BTS is currently one of the biggest things since sliced bread. The cadre of handsome young lads have won themselves a truly gigantic fanbase spanning countries and cultures, to the point where every one of their new albums and singles have been chart-toppers in multiple markets. It’s this sheer ubiquity that led to the announcement of the Map of the Soul tour in January 2020, a massive, country and continent-spanning tour of BTS concerts. Unfortunately, January 2020 was right before the entire world shut down due to COVID. The tour has been postponed several times, but due to the surge of the Delta variant and other factors, it simply isn’t known when the world can accommodate a tour on the scale of BTS’ popularity. Because of this, they’ve made a difficult decision.

“Our company has worked hard to resume preparations for the BTS Map of the Soul Tour, knowing that all fans have been waiting eagerly and long for the tour,” BTS’ label Bighit wrote. “However, due to changing circumstances beyond our control, it has become difficult to resume performances at the same scale and timeline as previously planned. Therefore we must announce the cancellation of the BTS Map of the Soul Tour.”

”We regret that we must now inform you of the formal cancellation of the tour,” Bighit continued. “For fans who have reserved tickets for the North American shows, you will receive an email from your original point of purchase regarding refunds.”

[INFO] @BTS_twt’s Map of the Soul Tour has been cancelled.https://t.co/MgGvGXwSku pic.twitter.com/02EYubPKdS

— BTS Charts & Translations⁷ (@charts_k) August 20, 2021

“Once again, please allow us to offer our sincere apology to all fans who have waited for the BTS Map Of The Soul Tour to resume,” Bighit concluded. “We are working to prepare a viable schedule and performance format that can meet your expectations, and we will provide updated notices as soon as possible.”