Zayn will still perform in Dubai on October 7 despite axing a London performance on Saturday due to anxiety, local organisers said.
The 23-year-old singer released a statement on his Instagram and Twitter accounts saying “he flew into the UK last night to appear in my home country in front of my family, friends, and most importantly my UK fans”, but had to cancel the Summertime Ball appearance last minute.
“Unfortunately my anxiety that has haunted me throughout the last few months around live performances has gotten the better of me,” he wrote.
“With the magnitude of the event, I have suffered the worst anxiety of my career. I cannot apologise enough but I want to be honest with everyone who has patiently waited to see me, I promise I will do my best to make this up to everybody I’ve let down today. I know those who suffer anxiety will understand and I hope those who don’t can empathise with my situation.”
Zayn will kick off his first world tour this year. His only confirmed concert — outside of television appearances and festivals — is at Dubai’s Autism Rocks Arena on October 7.
“First, let me perhaps explain that Summertime Ball has live-to-track performances [where singers perform their songs live to a backing track] from all the hottest artists in the world right now, whereas the show that he’s doing in Dubai is a full live production,” Thomas Ovesen, CEO of 117Live, the company who is bringing Zayn to Dubai, told tabloid!.
“I hope he will take the next couple of months to not only rehearse this amazing show that we’re going to have in Dubai, but to deal with these anxiety issues, and I’m sure the fans here will make him feel so welcome on stage that he’s not going to have any further problems when he kicks off his world tour.”
Ovesen said he had not yet spoken to Zayn’s management, but recalled having a similar conversation when One Direction were scheduled to perform in Dubai in 2015; Zayn had left the band a month prior and fans were worried about a cancellation of the concert. The band performed as a four piece.
Zayn joins several celebrities who have publicly opened up about their anxiety, including Adele. At Zayn’s age, a 23-year-old Adele told Q magazine why she turned down a headlining slot at Glastonbury.
“I have anxiety attacks, constant panicking on stage, my heart feels like it’s going to explode because I never feel like I’m going to deliver, ever,” she said.
“I will not do festivals. The thought of an audience that big frightens the life out of me. I don’t think the music would work either. It’s all too slow. I’d hate to book a festival and have a [expletive] anxiety attack and then not go on stage.”
According to mentalhealth.org.uk, there were 8.2 million cases of anxiety in the UK in 2013. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) defines anxiety disorders as “more than temporary worry or fear.”
“The feelings can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships,” the NIMH’s website says.
Similar to Adele, Zayn’s debut album, Mind of Mine, contains a healthy dose of slower songs, with only a few up-tempo tunes.
Jonathon Knight, member of the 80s boyband New Kids on the Block, became a recluse at the age of 23. He was outspoken about his panic disorder.
“We were in Spain and it just really hit me. I don’t want to be here, I want to be home, I don’t want to be around this situation anymore, it’s causing me so much stress and so much anxiety,” he said in a 2001 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“From 1994 to 1997, I did nothing. I slept and slept and slept. If I was awake, I had to deal with things, I had to do things. In order to avoid that, I just stayed in bed.”
Leann Rimes went into rehab for severe stress and anxiety, George Michael cancelled an Australian tour and spoke about needing “post traumatic counselling”, and more recently, Justin Bieber cancelled his meet-and-greets due to “feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression.”
While in One Direction, Malik missed an appearance on the Today Show due to illness. Before announcing his departure from 1D on March 25, he left their tour and went home due to stress. In the band’s 2013 documentary This Is Us, he spoke about the importance of having space to himself.
“I’ve always been like that, you can ask my mom. She said when I was in a kid, if I was in a room with too many people for too long, and there was too much going on, I’d just go upstairs and play with my toys by myself, because I just wanted five to ten minutes to myself,” he said.
Tickets to see Zayn in Dubai, ranging between Dh295, Dh595 and Dh995, are available from Virgin Megastores (and virginmegastore.ae), platinumlist.net and 117live.com.
