American singer and songwriter, Solange Knowles has pulled out of Afropunk Johannesburg, scheduled to take place this weekend on the 30th and 31st of December.
Solange took to her Instagram page in a lengthy and heart-felt post to apologise to her endearing South African fans.
“It’s so important to me for the people in South Africa, a place that has tremendous meaning to me and that has given me SO SO MUCH, to know why I won’t be performing at Afro Punk this NYE (new year’s eve),” the post began.
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According to the post, the singer, who’s the sister of Beyonce Knowles, has been living with and trying to treat “Autonomic Disorder” for the past five months.
The disorder, known as Autonomic Dysfunction or Autonomic Neuropathy, develops when the nerves of the autonomic nervous system are damaged.
The disorder can vary from mild to life-threatening.
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“It been a journey that hasn’t been easy on me. Sometimes I feel cool, and other times not so cool at all. It’s a complicated diagnoses, and I’m still learning so much myself, but right now, my doctors are not clearing me for such an extended lengthy flight, and doing a rigorous show right after,” said Solange.
Solange was billed to headline Afropunk Jozi on the 31st of December.
Afropunk is an annual arts festival which first began in Brooklyn, New York City, 14 years ago.
The festival, which makes its African debut this weekend, has been to Atlanta, London, and Paris.
Hailed as a world-renowned festival, Afropunk is a hotbed of creativity and style, featuring many top live acts as well as numerous community and civic-minded aspects.
The festival celebrates culture through music, film, skate and art.
“I can’t put into words how saddened and sorry I am that I am unable to perform for you guys this NYE, there is simply no other place I wanted to be than there with my family to bring in 2018 with you…but I give you my ABSOLUTE WORD I will come back with AfroPunk and deliver this performance,” said Solange.
Other artists set to take to the stage at Afropunk Joburg include Thebe, Sho Madjozi, Black Motion, DJ Cleo, Kid Fonque, DJ Doowap, King Tha vs BLK JKS, Nakhane Toure, Spoek Mathambo, DJ Kenzhero and Anderson Paak.
The organisers of the festival have also released a statement apologizing to fans.
“We at AFROPUNK would like to deeply apologise to all festival-goers and ticket-holders, but the circumstances of this news are completely out of AFROPUNK’s control. Solange was greatly looking forward to being a part of this historic occasion. AFROPUNK Joburg continues to look forward to welcoming many of the world’s finest artists, creatives and music fans to Joburg’s Constitution Hill on the 30th and 31st of December,” the statement read.
Afropunk Joburg takes place this Saturday, 30 December and Sunday, 31 December at Constitution Hill.
