Ed Sheeran starts to cancel Asian dates after bike accident, Frontier says Australian / NZ dates “not affected”

In the wake of his bike accident last weekend Ed Sheeran has started to cancel some of his 15 sold out Asian shows.

Already Taipei (October 22), Osaka (25), Seoul (29), Tokyo (31, November 1) and Hong Kong (4 &5) have been cancelled.

At this stage, shows in Manila (November 7), Jakarta (9), Singapore (11 & 12), Kuala Lumpur (14), Bangkok (16), Mumbai (19) and Dubai (23) are still on the slate.

“I’m waiting to see how the healing progresses before we have to decide on shows beyond that,” the star said.

The extent of his injuries is severe. “A visit to my doctors confirmed fractures in my right wrist and left elbow that will leave me unable to perform live concerts for the immediate future,” he revealed on Instagram alongside a picture of his arm in a cast.

Even if the star makes a rapid recovery, the format of the show – just a guitar and loop pedal over two hours – creates a greater problem.

His alternative is to enlist a backing band, although he dismissed the idea of playing with one earlier in the year.

“I don’t feel like there’s anything interesting or new about seeing a singer-songwriter with a band behind them,” he said at the time.

“I don’t feel like if I suddenly got a band, everyone would go, ’Wow!’ – I actually feel it’d take away from me.”

After the Dubai show, Sheeran has no live commitments until March in Australia, deliberately keeping February free for any appearances at the Grammys and Brit Awards.

While it’s hard to know how long he’ll be out of action, his Australian and New Zealand promoter Frontier Touring is trying to remain upbeat.

The company posted on its Facebook page, “As the Australia and New Zealand leg of Ed Sheeran’s tour does not commence until March 2018, we have no reason to believe that the shows here will be affected.

“We’re sure by March Ed will be fighting fit and incredibly excited about having the use of both his arms again. Rest up Ed – no more bicycles for you!

If he does cancel Australia and New Zealand, it would cost millions of dollars in refunded ticket sales, not to mention merchandise.

Earlier in the year, Frontier Touring announced that the singer songwriter’s tour had surpassed Dire Straits’ long standing record of an estimated 900,000 ticket sales from their 1986 Brothers In Arms tour.

Sheeran sold 710,000 stubs on the first day of sale.

The tour also set new records for the most stadium shows on one tour at Forsyth Barr in Dunedin with three shows and at Etihad Satdium in Melbourne with four shows.

He’s also due to play stadium dates in the UK and Ireland – including four nights at London’s Wembley Stadium – in the northern summer.

This year 5 million fans applied for tickets his UK arena tour.