Eric Clapton says he will cancel shows at venues that require COVID vaccination

Eric Clapton said Wednesday he will not perform at venues that require their guests to have a COVID-19 vaccine.

The legendary singer and guitarist’s statement comes two days after United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson said vaccine passports will be mandatory at crowded venues beginning in September, The Guardian reported.

“Following the PM’s announcement on Monday the 19th of July, 2021, I feel honor bound to make an announcement of my own: I wish to say that I will not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present,” Clapton said in a statement. “Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show.”

Clapton’s statement included a link to “Stand and Deliver,” his anti-lockdown song with Van Morrison, according to Rolling Stone.

Clapton said earlier this year he had severe reactions for 10 days after getting the first AstraZeneca vaccine. He proceeded to get the second vaccine, with results he called “disastrous.”

“My hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I feared I would never play again, (I suffer with peripheral neuropathy and should never have gone near the needle.),” Rolling Stone reported. “But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone…”

Clapton’s next scheduled concert is Sept. 13 in Fort Worth, Texas. He does not have any concerts scheduled in England until May 2022.

Vaccine passports are not mandatory at most music venues in the United States, though some acts have performed in front of vaccinated-only crowds.

Rock band Green Day asked all attendees at a show Tuesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to be fully vaccinated and show their proof.

Last month, the Foo Fighters played Madison Square Garden’s first 100% capacity crowd since March 2020, but they also had their requirements.

“Guests will need to be fully vaccinated for the Foo Fighters show at The Garden, meaning the event must be at least 14 days after your second dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine or at least 14 days after your single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine,” officials with the New York City venue wrote before the sold-out show.

More than 68% of adults in the United States have received at least one vaccination shot as of July 21, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many indoor music venues throughout the U.S. continue to require guests to wear masks as COVID-19 cases rise through the delta variant.

Lollapalooza, scheduled July 29 to Aug. 1 in Chicago, is among the major music festivals in the U.S. that will require its patrons to either be vaccinated or provide a negative COVID-19 test upon entry.

“I think we made the best decision that we could as always, based upon the data and based upon our projections and modeling,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said of the decision, according to WMAQ. “We felt very comfortable on June 11, which was the date, fully opening up the city. We had been working towards that point, looking at trends in the data. So no, I feel like we made the right decisions, but we’re sounding the alarm today because we’re starting to see this uptick.”

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