According to this year’s Revolver Golden Gods, HIM have the “most dedicated fans.” Well, those fans in North America are going to be disappointed, as HIM has been forced to cancel its touring plans this month. The North American trek was cancelled after singer Ville Valo was diagnosed with severe asthma with presumptive pneumonia.
HIM issued the following announcement about the tour’s cancellation:
“HIM’s North American tour (which was due to kick off in Los Angeles on May 3rd at the House Of Blues) has been cancelled due to unforeseen medical circumstances. HIM’s lead vocalist Ville Valo has been diagnosed with severe asthma with presumptive pneumonia. Tickets for all dates will be refunded at the point of purchase. HIM will be back later this summer as part of the Rock Allegiance tour.”
HIM’s manager, Seppo Vesterinen at Hinterland, Inc., gave the additional explanation to Blabbermouth of what happened prior to the tour’s original kick off date in L.A.:
“Ville has asthma and he got a pretty serious attack in the backstage at House Of Blues [in West Hollywood] on Friday and there was no way to perform. We got a doctor to the hotel at midnight and he diagnosed signs of pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics. The situation wasn’t better on Saturday and we had to decide to cancel these dates to give him time for proper treatment and rest. He’s being treated by best doctors in L.A. and we hope to continue the summer and fall as planned.
Also he’s been under a lot of stress for months recording the new album, artwork and promo for three different labels. Before Ville is fine, we can’t make any definite plans for re-scheduling these May dates. Ville and all of us feel really sorry for the fans who have bought tickets months ago and traveled long distances from Brazil, Canada and elsewhere.”
As the first statement mentions, HIM still plan to take part in the recently announced Rock Allegiance tour later this summer. However, seems like a safe bet that HIM won’t be returning to North America prior to that.
