Justin Bieber Cancels Tour After Shock Diagnosis

Megastar Justin Bieber has been forced to cancel tour dates after a shocking diagnosis of little-known Ramsay Hunt disorder. 

The debilitating condition has seen the Ghost hitmaker cancel the remainder of his North American shows, taking to Instagram to explain the situation to fans. 

“As you can probably see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome and it is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves," he explained in a video.

"As you can see, this eye is not blinking, I can’t smile on this side of my face, this nostril will not move. So there’s full paralysis on this side of my face. So for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I’m just physically not capable of doing them."

The cancellation comes on top of the postponement of earlier tour dates due to a COVID-19 diagnosis. 

In the video, Bieber demonstrates his physical difficulties and reveals that it has been getting progressively more difficult to eat. He is undergoing facial exercises and expects to recover from the condition, but is unsure how long the recovery will take.

Ramsay Hunt is a rare but serious disease caused by the same virus as Chicken Pox and shingles. Most patients will recover, however, there are many cases of permanent paralysis and hearing loss. The condition is similar to Bell's Palsy, but can be more severe.

"This is pretty serious, as you can see," said Bieber. "I wish this wasn’t the case, but obviously, my body’s telling me I gotta slow down and I hope you guys understand.”

Justin Bieber has had a world-beating year, smashing out global hits including ARIA platinum plus smashes Anyone, Hold On, Peaches and Ghost as well as his collaboration with Aussie hitmaker The Kid LAROI on Stay. 

With around a dozen North American shows now cancelled, the tour is due to move on to Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia before landing here in Australia this November. 

It is unknown whether Bieber's road to recovery will enable his shows down under to proceed, but we wish him all the best to rapidly return to good health.