Justin Bieber Cancels More Shows After Ramsay Hunt Syndrome Diagnosis

Pop star Justin Bieber has been forced to cancel more concert dates as he contends with a rare neurological disorder which has left his face partially paralyzed.

Concert giant AEG announced Thursday that all of Bieber's shows in June and early July, part of his Justice World Tour, have been indefinitely postponed. They included stops in St. Louis, Milwaukee, Glendale and Los Angeles.

"Justin continues to receive the best medical care possible, is upbeat about his recovery, and is looking forward to getting back out on the road and performing for his fans overseas later this summer," a statement from AEG read, in part.

It's unclear if the European leg of his tour, slated to begin in early August, will go forward.

Last week, the 28-year-old announced that he has been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a disorder which left one side of his face paralyzed. Prior to the announcement, Bieber postponed several concerts because of an unidentified illness. 

Bieber described some of the symptoms in a video posted to Instagram: "As you can see, this eye is not blinking, I can't smile on this side of my face, this nostril will not move," he said, gesturing to the features that barely moved as he tried to blink and smile.

Ramsay Hunt can occur in anyone who has had chickenpox, and is triggered by a shingles outbreak, according to the Mayo Clinic. It can cause both a rash around one ear and paralysis on one side of the face. Other symptoms can include hearing loss and vertigo.

The Justice World Tour was first scheduled to take place in 2020 as the "Changes World Tour," to celebrate Bieber's fifth studio album release, but that tour was one of the first to be postponed in the U.S. due to the coronavirus.

In 2021, the tour was rebranded as the Justin Bieber World Tour, but was postponed again over variant concerns. Restarted as the Justice World Tour, concert dates were again postponed when Bieber tested positive for COVID-19 in February of 2022.

First published on June 16, 2022 / 7:25 PM

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