For Adele, the decision to postpone her stay in Las Vegas is now water under the bridge.
The British singer, who is heading up two festival shows at BST Hyde Park this weekend, told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs that it was impossible to go ahead with her planned Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace earlier this year and said that the Show simply does not meet the requirements of their standards.
The concerts were originally scheduled to begin on Friday January 21st and last through mid-April. The postponements without catch-up dates remain a sore point for many Adele fans and critics.
“I definitely felt everyone’s disappointment and I was devastated and scared to let her down and I thought I could pull it together and make it work but I couldn’t and I stand by that decision,” she said in the BBC interview.
She acknowledged the backlash was “brutal” from fans who were angry at spending money on travel and hotels, let alone taking time off work. That anger left her “a shell of a person for a few months.”
She added: “You can’t buy me, you can’t buy me for free. I’m not going to do a show just because I have to, or because people will be let down, or because we’re going to lose a lot of money. I’m like, ‘The show isn’t good enough.’”
No date has yet been set for an alleged “postponement”. Stage sets for the proposed show have reportedly been scrapped, and the venue has moved forward with other performers.
“I won’t update you if I don’t have anything to update you on because it will only lead to more disappointment.”
Why the shows were canceled remains unclear. Adele initially blamed the pandemic, saying: “Half my crew, half my team are down with COVID — they still are — and it was impossible to finish the show.” It was later reported that it was between Adele and the production team had professional arguments over a 60-strong choir and a pond from which the singer would climb onto the stage.
The London shows in London’s Hyde Park featured an all-female cast of artists, highlighted by Kacey Musgraves.