British synth-pop star Gary Numan cancelled his show in Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday evening after the tragic death of an elderly man. The 91-year old was struck by Numan’s tour bus while crossing the road. He died at the scene.
As of this writing, it’s unconfirmed whether Numan was on the bus at the time, but he tweeted a full statement shortly afterwards stating, “At the moment, all we can think about are the people affected by this terrible tragedy and to them, we send all our love.”
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The driver took a right turn and struck the unidentified senior, immediately killing him. According to the Cleveland police, the driver was not impaired and has not been charged, although he remains under investigation.
Numan cancelled his show at the House of Blues in the midst of his North American tour.
House of Blues Cleveland made the announcement on Twitter before the news was officially confirmed, citing the show had been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Multiple witnesses reported that a priest from a local church hurried to the scene of the accident and administered last rites to the victim before he passed away.
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The electro-superstar confirmed the cancellation of his gig on Twitter while expressing his sadness about the death.
“Everyone of us is filled with a sadness that made it impossible to even consider playing our show tonight. Out of respect, it would have been entirely wrong,” he wrote.
Coast to Coast, the tour bus company, released a statement to WKYC (a Cleveland news channel) confirming it was one of their vehicles. “We’ve notified our carrier, and they are investigating this incident. In our 34 years of business, this has never happened. We really regret the loss of life.”
This isn’t the Cars singer’s first experience with bus-related incidents.
He was involved in a double-decker bus crash in 2011, where he narrowly avoided death.
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No further comments have been made by the Cleveland police regarding the incident. Numan is expected to continue his tour Tuesday in Louisville, Ky.
Numan released his 18th studio album, Savage (Songs from a Broken World), on Sept. 17 under labels BMG and The End Records.
Numan played Toronto’s Phoenix theatre last Tuesday and has one more Canadian gig in Vancouver before his return to the U.K.. You can get tickets here.
Gary Numan – North American 2018 tour dates
Sept. 25 – Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, Ky.
Sept. 27 – Slowdown, Omaha, Neb.
Sept. 28 – Gothic Theatre, Englewood, Colo.
Sept. 29 – The Depot, Salt Lake City, Utah
Oct. 1 – Vogue Theatre, Vancouver
Oct. 2 – Neptune Theatre, Seattle, Wash.
Oct. 3 – Roseland Theater, Portland, Ore.
Oct. 5 – Bimbo’s 365 Club, San Francisco, Calif.
Oct. 6 – Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, Calif.
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