A month after rescheduling a series of concerts (and telling an L.A. crowd they were “lucky I make it on this…stage every night”), Lauryn Hill has postponed most of her remaining 2023 tour dates due to vocal strain issues. The tour was originally meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, as well as reunite Fugees for their long-awaited comeback.
“As many of you may know, I’ve been battling serious vocal strain for the past month,” Hill wrote in a lengthy Instagram post. “I made it through each show by taking prescribed prednisone, but this can be detrimental to the body when taken in large amounts over long periods of time. In order to prevent any long term negative affect [sic] on my voice and my body, I need to take time off to allow for real vocal recovery so that I can discontinue the medication completely.”
The postponement affects eight shows the singer says will be rescheduled in early 2024. Hill and Fugees will however still perform on Saturday, November 25th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, considering that concert was already postponed once before from October 23rd. That show will mark Hill and Fugees’ final performance of the year.
“The shows that were cancelled this year will be rescheduled for early 2024 AND because of the overwhelming response, we’ll be adding new cities to the tour, including overseas,” Hill added. “We’re working on the new calendar now, and announcing soon.”
Those international tour dates could pose some difficulties for Fugees, as Pras Michel‘s conviction as part of an international multi-billion-dollar money laundering scheme hangs overhead. The Brooklyn rapper faces up to 20 years in prison after he was convicted earlier this year of political conspiracy for his work as an unregistered foreign agent. Fugees had originally planned a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut album The Score in 2021, however the group canceled that outing shortly before the allegations against Michel came to light (they did however play one abridged show in NYC and a surprise mini-reunion at Roots Picnic). Pras recently requested a retrial, arguing his former attorney used artificial intelligence to draft his closing argument.
See below for the full statement from Lauryn Hill regarding her postponed tour dates.
I’d like to start this off by saying how much I’ve enjoyed being on the road, and how much I appreciate all of the fans who have come out to celebrate this incredible milestone anniversary and history making reunion with us. Being able to tour this album to sold out crowds after 25 years has been an emotional experience! I’ve loved sharing the stage again with Wyclef and Pras. The Return of the Fugees has been powerful and amazing—those who’ve witnessed it can testify. The tour itself reminds us the artists, and the audiences alike of earlier, perhaps less complicated times when ‘It could all be so simple…’ or ‘Ready Or Not, here I come!’ were on repeat on the airwaves. Simply put, classic. Classic music, classic performances with audiences who love those classics has been nothing but…wait for it…EPIC. (I almost said classic again! 
)
As many of you may know, I’ve been battling serious vocal strain for the past month. I made it through each show by taking prescribed prednisone, but this can be detrimental to the body when taken in large amounts over long periods of time. In order to prevent any long term negative affect on my voice and my body, I need to take time off to allow for real vocal recovery so that I can discontinue the medication completely.
For this reason we have to reschedule most of the remaining shows this year. The shows that were cancelled this year will be rescheduled for early 2024 AND because of the overwhelming response, we’ll be adding new cities to the tour, including overseas.
We’re working on the new calendar now, and announcing soon.
The show in PHILLY this weekend IS STILL HAPPENING. We already had to move this show once and being so close to New Jersey, it’s basically hometown for us—so we’ll close out the year with one final show amongst friends and family!
We want to thank everyone who celebrated with us—EVERY
SINGLE FAN …and ALL band, crew, production, staff, family, friends and Day 1-OG-CAMP members who helped make each and every single night LEGENDARY!
We’re ALL looking forward to getting back out again next year to finish this EPIC (now extended anniversary) celebration of these CLASSICS. 
MLH
The post Lauryn Hill Postpones Tour Dates With Fugees Due To Vocal Strain Issues appeared first on L4LM.
