Connect Music Festival: Massive Attack cancel tour dates as member battles ‘serious illness’ – but Edinburgh date set to go ahead

Massive Attack have cancelled their upcoming tour dates due to a band member’s battle with a “serious illness”.

The Bristolians are due to perform at Edinburgh's Royal Highland Centre, kicking off the Connect Music Festival on Friday, August 26.

Posting on social media on Wednesday (March 24), they said the band member had been unwell for the “past few months” but was now “in recovery”.

It has not yet been announced which member of the band has been unwell.

They wrote: “For the past few months, a member of Massive Attack has been contending with a serious illness. We are pleased to say they are now in recovery.

“This process is positive but also challenging and ongoing, which unfortunately means that Massive Attack are not presently in a position to fulfil our live shows scheduled for May, June, and July 2022.

“The ban deeply regret any inconvenience or disappointment caused – particularly to the fans with whom it’s always an honour to engage, and to our production crew who, owing to other global events, have already had to wait to long to do what they do so well.”

The statement concluded: “We thank you for your patience and support.”

As yet, Massive Attack are still due to headline Connect Music Festival, where they are booked to perform alongside the The National and The Chemical Brothers at the event.

John Grant, Little Simz, Self Esteem, Jon Hopkins, Low, Bombay Bicycle Club and Black Coffee will all perform when the festival returns after a 14-year hiatus in August.

The three-day event, which will have a daily capacity of around 15,000 people, will also feature Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul, Moses Boyd, Bonobo, Erol Alkan, Caribou, Chloe Moriondo, Sudan Archives and Black Country New Road.

It emerged in Feburary that Connect, which staged at Inveraray Castle in Argyll in 2007 and 2008, would be going ahead at the home of the Royal Highland Show at the end of August, on the final weekend of 75th-anniversary season of Edinburgh's festivals.

Mogwai, Idlewild, The Twilight Sad and Admiral Fallow all played at the festival at its previous home.

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