Kings of Leon Cancel All Tour Dates After Death of Followill Brothers’ Mother
UPDATE (OCT. 1): Kings of Leon have now canceled all remaining tour dates follow the death of the Folowill brothers' mothers, Betty Ann Murphy. "We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from our fans. If you haven’t heard, our mom Betty Ann passed away peacefully last week. We’ve decided to cancel all remaining tour dates through October to be with our families. Thanks for the kind words and all the love you’ve given to the entire Followill family," wrote the band on Instagram.
The mother of three members of the rock band Kings of Leon, Betty Ann Murphy, died this week after the group canceled two concerts to be by her side amid an illness.
Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill and bassist Jared Followill, two founding members of the Nashville-based outfit, paid tribute to their mom in remembrances on social media on Friday (Sept. 24).
The day before, the band called off the pair of scheduled performances, including their Sept. 24 slot at this weekend's Eddie Vedder-curated Ohana Festival in Dana Point, Calif., because of what they called in an online statement a "medical crisis" involving Murphy.
"My heart is broken," Nathan later wrote. "My beautiful mother and biggest fan has passed on from this life and into the next. I will cherish the memories I made with her and her legacy will live on through me, my brothers and our beautiful families."
Jared added, "You were the strongest, sweetest, most beautiful woman in the world to me. You were a better mama and grandmother than any of us deserved. I'm SO proud you are my mom. Always have been and always will be. love you so much. I will miss you every single day until I'm with you again."
Betty Ann, mom to Nathan, Jared and Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill, fell ill as the act toured the U.S. over the past two months. She "took a turn for the worse" earlier this week, necessitating the musicians fly home to see her "until the time [came] to say goodbye," they explained. Thursday's gig in Mountain View, Calif., was canceled in addition to Friday's at Ohana. The band has more dates scheduled in October.
Kings of Leon — the three brothers and their cousin, guitarist Matthew Followill — are on the road supporting their latest album When You See Yourself.
Our mother, who many of our fans know and love, has been dealing with a medical crisis for the last several weeks and while it has been hard to take the stage each night, it has been the love and energy from you, our fans, that has gotten us though.
Just before taking the stage at The Forum we learned she took a turn for the worse. It was a hard show to get through, but you held us up that night in a way we will never forget. Immediately following the show, we all flew home, where we will remain by her side until the time comes to say goodbye. Our show tonight at Shoreline Amphitheatre and our appearance at Ohana Festival this weekend are cancelled but we wanted to say thank you to all our fans, to Eddie, and to the entire Pearl Jam family for supporting us during this time.