Janet Jackson: ‘There has been a sudden change’; tour postponed

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Janet Jackson performs after the Dubai World Cup at the Meydan Racecourse on March 26, 2016 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. |Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images

Wednesday brought both good news and bad news for Janet Jackson fans.

The good? “My husband and I are planning our family,” she said, beaming in a video posted to Twitter. The bad: Her doctors have ordered her to rest up, which means she’s postponing the second leg of her Unbreakable world tour indefinitely.

“We’re in the second leg of the tour and there actually has been a sudden change,” she announced in the video. “I thought it was important that you would be the first to know my husband and I are planning our family, so I’m going to have to delay the tour. Please, if you can try to understand that it’s important that I do this now. I have to rest up, doctor’s orders. But I have not forgotten about you. I will continue to tour as soon as I possibly can.”

Jackson has concerts scheduled in Chicago on June 4 at the Allstate Arena. No immediate word on whether the show is among the cancelled dates. When reached for comment about the Chicago date and the tour, Livenation Midwest issued an official statement: “Following Janet’s recent announcement, further details regarding the Unbreakable World Tour will be forthcoming. Fans should stay tuned to JanetJackson.com and LiveNation.com for the latest updates regarding the tour.”

Jackson, 49, married Qatari business magnate Wissam Al Mana, 41, in 2012.

The announcement does not make it abundantly clear whether the couple is already expecting a baby, trying to start a family or process of adopting a child, but the “sudden change” suggests it’s the former. USA TODAY’s request for clarification was not immediately answered.

In December, she announced she would have to move the tour back to the spring so she could undergo an unspecified surgery. A month later, she had to shoot down rumors that she was going to have to postpone her tour because she had cancer, and warned fans not to believe any news about her health unless it came from her own lips.

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According to the Associated Press, on Dec. 24, Jackson announced that she was postponing her “Unbreakable” tour until the spring to have an unspecified surgical procedure. She had been next scheduled to perform in early January in Denver. At that time, Jackson’s statement asked for prayers of support and said no further details on her medical condition would be disclosed.

Two weeks later, Jackson announced rescheduled tour dates after she took some time to recover from the surgical procedure. The singer again offered no details on her medical condition, but denied viral rumors that she had cancer.

Jackson said at the time the North American leg of her “Unbreakable” tour would resume May 14 in Las Vegas. Rescheduled shows were also to include dates in Portland, Oregon; Houston; Detroit; Atlanta; Washington; New York; Philadelphia and more. Live Nation had said tickets for previously announced dates would be honored at rescheduled shows.

Jackson began her “Unbreakable” tour last August and it soon made the Top 20 global concert tour listing compiled by Pollstar. The singer’s catalog of hits dates back to the mid-1980s, ranging from “What Have You Done for Me Lately” to “That’s the Way Love Goes” and “All for You.”

Contributing: Associated Press; Sun-Times staff reporter Miriam Di Nunzio

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