This month has been a wild ride for fans of Jamiroquai! After confirming four North American dates for 2018–which would have marked the band’s triumphant return to the United States since November of 2005–Jamiroquai announced today that they are no longer able to travel to the U.S. because of frontman Jay Kay‘s expired passport.
In a tweet this morning, the band wrote: “Sorry America, passport expired. See you in 2020.” With their first shows in the U.S. scheduled in less than two weeks, and without the required documentation to travel, there’s just nothing Jamiroquai can do to make their Coachella performances. No word from Coachella about who will replace Jamiroquai yet, but we’re hoping we don’t get Beyoncé‘d again this year and end up with a mediocre Lady Gaga performance (kidding, not kidding).
The British funk and jazz heroes, famous for hits like “Virtual Insanity” and “Cosmic Girl” and widely respected for their deeper cuts, recently announced a show at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA on April 17th to follow up their headlining performances at Coachella (April 13 & April 20). Additionally, the band recently announced a show in Queens, New York at the original home of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Forest Hills Stadium, on Saturday, September 8. Live Oak, Florida’s Suwannee Hulaween also hinted that Jamiroquai would headline their October 26-28 event, rounding out what sources have expressed would be the band’s only U.S. appearances.
While the tweet doesn’t specify which shows the band will miss, the language certainly suggests that the entire North American schedule is at least postponed until 2020. While it would be seemingly possible for the band to hit the U.S. market for the post-Coachella shows–as long as Jay Kay got his passport figured out–it just doesn’t seem like they’re into it. By apologizing to “America,” it’s safe to assume that Jamiroquai won’t be coming here at all this year– at least not until 2020. Sad.
It was only a year ago that Jamiroquai announced their return after years outside of the spotlight. In March of last year, the group released their eighth studio album, Automaton, a follow-up to 2010’s Rock Dust Light Star. To complement their new album, Jamiroquai embarked on a global tour in 2017, hitting Tokyo and Seoul in addition to major cities across Europe. However, North American cities were conspicuously left off of Jamiroquai’s 2017 comeback tour, leading many to hope that 2018 would see the group hit the U.S.. Welp, guess we’ll have to keep those dreams to ourselves for just a couple more years.
April Fools!