Following last week’s cancellation of Garth Brooks’ five shows at Croke Park in Dublin, the back-in-action country superstar has issued a statement announcing that the Dublin City Council cannot change its ruling. “To say I am crushed is an understatement,” he said.
The Ireland dates were set for July 25-29 and were expected to draw 400,000 people, and their cancelation will reportedly cost the city of Dublin about 15 million euro. The City Council had originally requested to cancel two of the five performances, due to Croke Park neighbors’ complaints about the traffic and noise the shows would cause. But Brooks responded saying he would rather cancel all the shows than choose which ones to do. Later, the city councilors voted to approve the shows but they were ultimately rejected by the city manager.
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Brooks’ full statement reads:
“I have always been advised to NEVER send a message in “the moment.” It is said it is best to take a walk, wait awhile, and think about it,” he said in a press release. “With that said, I just received the news the Dublin City Council cannot change their earlier ruling to not allow the licenses for all five shows. To say I am crushed is an understatement. All I see is my mother’s face and I hear her voice. She always said things happen for a reason and for the right reason. As hard as I try, I cannot see the light on this one. So it is with a broken heart, I announce the ticket refunds for the event will go as posted by TicketMaster.
I want to thank the Irish authorities for going the distance for all of us who wanted to share songs and dance together. I really want to thank all the people around the world that continued to think good thoughts that this would actually happen. Most of all, to Peter Aiken [of Aiken Promotions] and those 400,000 people who believed enough to go through what they have been through to get to this point…I love you, always have, always will. I encourage any and all of them that can come see the show, at some point around the world, to bring your Irish flags and wave them proudly at the concerts. I will be looking for you.…garth.”
Brooks recently announced his return to music, calling his new deal with Sony Music Nashville as “part two” of a Country Music Hall of Fame career. He has said his album will be coming out sometime in November, close to Black Friday, and announced a massive tour to go with it. His music will also finally be available digital but only through his own website, garthbrooks.com, at what he called a cheap, “stupid price.”