Zayn Malik has rescheduled his Stairway to the Sky tour after previously postponing the US tour dates following the death of his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne. Zayn will now take on dates starting with a Jan. 21 show at the Anthem in Washington, DC, followed by two shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, as well as dates in Los Angeles and Las Vegas before wrapping up with a Feb. 3 concerts at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
The American leg of what was to be Malik's first headlining tour — in support of his fourth solo album, Room under the stairs — was originally scheduled to take place in October and November of this year. But on Saturday, the “Pillowtalk” singer told fans he was delaying the US run that was originally scheduled to start on Wednesday (October 23) in San Francisco.
“Given the heartbreaking loss I experienced this week, I have made the decision to postpone the US leg of the STAIRWAY TO THE SKY tour,” Malik wrote to X (formerly Twitter). “The dates are being rescheduled for January and I will post them once they are all finalized in the next few days. Your tickets will remain valid for the new dates. I love you all and thank you for your understanding.”
Malik is set to hit the UK road next month, kicking off with a pair of shows on November 20-21 at the O2 Academy Edinburgh, followed by stops in Leeds, Manchester, London, Wolverhampton and Newcastle Upon Tyne.
The postponement of the US dates came after Payne's death in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 16 at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel room balcony. An initial toxicology report found Payne had a number of drugs in his system at the time of his death, including a recreational drug listed as “pink cocaine”, a mixture that often contains ketamine combined with MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine, opioids and/or psychoactive substances.
Payne has openly discussed his struggles with addiction in the past. In May 2023, he celebrated 100 days of sobriety. “I feel very, very good, and the support from the fans and everything has been very, very good. So, I'm very happy,” he had said at the time. The loss has hit the Directioners and their fellow artists hard, perhaps none more so than Payne's former bandmates in 1D, who issued both a group statement and their own individual comments about their late brother in song .
“I can't help but think selfishly that there were so many more conversations to be had in our lives,” Malik said he wrote in his memory along with a photo of him lying in Payne's arms when the two were world-famous teenage pop stars. “I never got to thank you for supporting me through some of the hardest times of my life. When I was away from home as a 17-year-old, you would always be there with a positive outlook and reassuring smile and let me know you were my friend and loved.”
tour/” target=”_blank”>Click here to see Zayn's full lineup of rescheduled US dates.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/zayn-malik-reschedules-us-stairway-to-sky-tour-postponed-liam-payne-death-1235810065/