LONDON (AP) 鈥 A two-week-long music festival in central London has cancelled its final night after Jeff Lynne鈥檚 Electric Light Orchestra pulled out of the headline slot on Sunday.
Lynne, 77, who was billed to play alongside his band Sunday at the The BST Hyde Park festival, withdrew on Saturday on the advice of doctors as a result of what was termed a 鈥渟ystemic infection."
In a statement, the festival organizers said the event will 鈥渟adly be cancelled鈥 and that ticket holders will be refunded and contacted directly by their ticket agent with further details.
Stevie Wonder will be taking to the London stage on Saturday evening in what will now be the festival鈥檚 final event of 2025. This year's festival, which started on June 27, hosted the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Van Morrison and Neil Young.
U.S. rock band The Doobie Brothers and Steve Winwood were among those slated to perform on Sunday ahead of ELO's headline performance.
In an earlier statement, BST said Lynne was 鈥渉eartbroken鈥 to report that he could not perform.
鈥淛eff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors who have advised him that performing is simply not possible at this time nor will he be able to reschedule," the statement read.
鈥淭he legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff鈥檚 mind today 鈥 and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time," it added.
It comes after the band, best known for 鈥淢r Blue Sky,鈥 pulled out of a performance at Manchester鈥檚 Co-Op Live on July 10.
The band was formed in Birmingham in 1970 by Lynne, multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan, and first split in 1986. ELO are known for fusing classical music, Beatles-style pop and futuristic rock visuals, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
Lynne resurrected the band in 2014.
