Blues-rock duo The Black Keys have parted ways with their managers, Irving Azoff and Steve Moir, just weeks after the band abruptly canceled their North American arena tour.
The New York Times first reported the split on Thursday (June 6), citing a representative that said both sides had “amicably parted.”
The report comes about three years after the duo — comprising Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney — left their longtime manager John Peets of Q Prime South to partner with Azoff and Moir of Full Stop Management.
“We only interviewed essentially two people: It was between Coran Capshaw [of Red Light Management] and Full Stop, and it was a really hard decision. [Azoff], with his focus on touring and selling our tickets and stuff, seemed to be more on page with where we wanted to be,” Carney told Billboard in April 2022.
News about the band splitting with Azoff and Moir comes shortly after they quietly cancelled their 31-date International Players tour, scheduled to start on September 17 in Oklahoma.
The band addressed the cancellation in a statement on X on May 27, saying: “Following the recent run of shows in the UK & Europe, including stops at iconic venues like Brixton Academy and the Zenith in Paris, we have decided to make some changes to the North American leg of the ‘International Players Tour’ that will enable us to offer a similarly exciting, intimate experience for both fans and the band, and will be announcing a revised set of dates shortly.”
However, the NYT suggests the tour cancellation might be due to slow ticket sales in a crowded market with rising ticket prices. Rising ticket prices are part of what prompted the US Department of Justice to launch an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its owner Live Nation. Tickets for The Black Keys’ tour were listed on Ticketmaster before the band decided to cancel.
The challenging market environment could be a contributing factor to the band’s decision to part ways with their managers, the NYT said.
The band’s Patrick Carney posted a message to social media platform X on Monday (June 10), stating: “We got fu****. I’ll let you all know how so it doesn’t happen to you. Stay tuned.”
Apart from The Black Keys, Jennifer Lopez also cancelled the US leg of her This Is Me… Live tour. Live Nation recently announced that the singer is “taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends,” while assuring fans that they will be refunded.
Variety reported in March, about two months before the decision to cancel Lopez’s tour was announced, that the concert suffered from weak ticket sales, with “large numbers of tickets at most of the tour’s dates remain[ing] unsold.”
Writing to fans via her On the Jlo newsletter, Lopez said: “I am completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down.”
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