Bruno Mars
Photo: Getty Images for The Recording A, Emma McIntyre. All rights reserved.
On Saturday October 7th, Bruno Mars had to cancel his concert at HaYarkon Park in Tel Aviv after Hamas began its terrorist attack on Israel. However, due to the quick departure and departure from Israel, the singer’s crew is said to have been unable to take the band’s equipment with them.
After his performance on Wednesday (October 4th), it was supposed to be the singer’s second sold-out show at the 70,000-capacity venue. This would have made him the third American artist – after Madonna in 2009 and Michael Jackson (1993) – to achieve this. After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on the Islamist group in response to Hamas attacks, organizer Live Nation announced that the concert had to be canceled.
By midday on the same day, the US star and his 60-person crew were at the airport, where they took a flight to Athens. From there, Bruno Mars was supposed to travel to Doha (Qatar) to perform there on October 8th following the Formula 1 “Qatar Grand Prix” and thus end his world tour. But according to reports, the team was unable to pack up the equipment and transport it from Israel in such a short time, which is why the musician had to cancel this concert too. The Lusail International Circuit announced this just a few hours before his scheduled appearance. Instead, French artist DJ Snake took his place.
For years, artists have received strong public criticism for planned concerts in Israel. Not only activists, but also artists like Roger Waters, who is a supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement BDS (a campaign to isolate Israel), are calling on their colleagues to cancel the shows and for the sake of the country to boycott what they believe is the unfair treatment of Palestinians. Waters also tried to convince Lana Del Rey, Radiohead, Bon Jovi and Jennifer Lopez – but without success.
To counteract this boycott, a new generation of promoters have come together – including the Bluestone Group, which was acquired by Live Nation in 2017. They are committed to increasing the potential sales of artists in Israel while helping them deal with anti-Israel backlash. In addition to Bruno Mars, musicians such as the Imagine Dragons, Christina Aguilera, the Black Keys and Guns N’ Roses also performed in Israel in 2023.