Justin Bieber has announced the cancellation of his world tour due to growing health concerns, and vows to take time to “rest and get better”.
The global superstar was scheduled to stop off in Manchester at the AO Arena in February 2023 as part of the ‘Justice Tour’ – which had already been rearranged due to COVID-19, and had 70 shows in the diary until March 2023 in South America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe – but he took to social media last night to sadly confirm that he is calling-off the rest of the tour dates.
It comes after the Canadian singer revealed back in June that he had been diagnosed with a rare condition called Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which resulted in complete paralysis of the right side of his face.
While he was forced to cancel immediate North American performances at the time of his diagnosis, the pop star managed to get back out on stage for six gigs in Europe before his health began to deteriorate once again.
Taking to Instagram to explain his decision to cancel the rest of the world tour, Justin Bieber said in a statement: “As a result of this illness, I was not able to complete the North America leg of the Justice Tour.
“After resting and consulting with my doctors, family and team, I went to Europe in an effort to continue with the tour. I performed six live shows, but it took a real toll on me. This past weekend, I performed at Rock in Rio and I gave everything I have to the people in Brazil, but after getting off stage, the exhaustion overtook me and I realised that I need to make my health the priority right now.”
He confirmed that he is “going to take a break from touring for the time being”.
Bieber added that he is “going to be ok”, but said that he just needs to take some time to “rest and get better”.
The Canadian singer was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome in June / Credit: Justin Bieber (via Instagram)
His statement concluded: “I’ve been so proud to bring this show and our message of Justice to the world. Thank you for your prayers and support throughout all of this.
“I love you all passionately.”
According to the NHS, Ramsay Hunt syndrome is caused by a virus in the facial nerve and is a condition that develops as a complication of the shingles virus – which can emerge in people who have suffered chicken pox as a child.
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Some of the possible symptoms include blisters in the ears and on the roof of the mouth, as well as facial weakness.
The condition can be treated with steroids, antiviral medication and facial rehabilitation.
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
Emily Sergeant -
7th September 2022 
