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The Black Keys Cancel North American Leg of International Players Tour

The rock duo's 31-date arena trek was scheduled to launch in September and included a date at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 11, 2024.

The Black Keys

The Black Keys

Jim Herrington

The Black Keys have abruptly canceled their upcoming North American tour.

The 31-date arena trek — which was scheduled to launch Sept. 17 in Tulsa, Okla., and wrap Nov. 12 in Detroit — quietly disappeared from Ticketmaster’s website without explanation on Friday (May 24).


The upcoming jaunt, dubbed the International Players Tour, was in support of the rock duo’s 12th studio album, Ohio Players, which debuted and peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in April.

A handful of venues that were scheduled to host the Black Keys — including Austin’s Moody Center (Sept. 18) and New York’s Madison Square Garden (Oct. 30) — acknowledged the nixed dates on their websites and noted that ticket-buyers would be refunded.

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“Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel this event,” the Moody Center’s date noted. “Ticket holders, please check your email from Ticketmaster for more info.”

The Black Keys have also removed the upcoming North American tour dates from their website, except for a lone appearance at Chicago’s NASCAR Street Race on July 6.

Billboard has reached out to the Black Keys’ representatives for comment.

The cancellation arrives on the heels of Black Keys’ appeared on NBC’s The Voice, where members Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney performed their song “Beautiful People (Stay High).” The pair also recently completed the European leg of their tour in mid-May.

The Black Keys launched three singles in the lead-up to the full release of Ohio Players on April 5. Lead single “Beautiful People (Stay High),” which features writing contributions from Grammy-winner Beck, became their seventh chart-topper on Alternative Airplay, spending two weeks atop the ranking.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

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Billboard France Announces the Launch of Billboard Paris
Media

Billboard France Announces the Launch of Billboard Paris

The French edition of the world's leading music media outlet is creating a local vertical to cover music news in the Greater Paris region.

Billboard France, the French edition of the world’s leading music media outlet, today announced the official launch of Billboard Paris.

This new vertical, which has already reached 10 million views on social media, will focus exclusively on music news from across the Paris region, covering local events — from small-scale concerts and club nights to music exhibitions — as well as major celebrations such as Fête de la Musique, Nuit Blanche, Techno Parade, and Pride Month.

Billboard Paris will be operated by Billboard France under the leadership of Nicolas Baudoin and Ulysse Hennessy. Yanis Si Youcef has been appointed editor-in-chief, with support from Julien Zeidan.

“In the space of a year, Billboard France has established itself as both a leading outlet for French and international music news and a reference point for industry professionals," Nicolas Baudoin and Ulysse Hennessy, president and managing Director of Billboard France and Billboard Paris, said in a joint statement. "This new Paris-focused event vertical allows us to build a highly localized audience while simultaneously expanding both our editorial and commercial offering. We are pleased to entrust it to Yanis Si Youcef, whose expertise closely aligns with our editorial ambitions.”

“Paris deserved its own benchmark music platform. Billboard Paris will tell the story of the city through its music, its scenes, and its nightlife, with the standards that have defined the Billboard brand for more than a century," added Yanis Si Youcef, editor-in-chief of Billboard Paris.

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