Concerns for BST Hyde Park headliner’s health after gig cancelled ‘with 45 minutes to go’

Fans are concerned for Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne after he cancelled tonight’s performance due to ‘illness’ as concert-goers piled into Manchester’s Co-Op Live. Taking to social media at 8.45pm this evening, the Mr Blue Sky hitmakers, led by frontman Jeff, 77, wrote: ‘Unfortunately due to illness tonight’s (Thursday 10th July 2025) scheduled performance of Jeff Lynne’s ELO at the Co-Op Live will not be going ahead. Jeff is devastated he cannot perform this evening. More information will become available as soon as possible. For refunds please go to your point of purchase’ (Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall of Fame)

One fan @sleeptokem, who was in situ at the Co-Op Live Arena when the announcement was made, took to social media and said: ‘THEY CANCELLED ELO TONIGHT BECAUSE JEFF IS ILL????? YOU CANT MAKE THIS UP WE’RE ALL BEING BOOTED OUT.’ They added: ‘I do not blame jeff for being ill or cancelling but this should have been communicated to us earlier than 8:15!! the support was supposed to be on at 8!’ ‘The concert that never was. Cancelled with 45mins to go get well soon JeffLynne,’ wrote @_HannahClarkson (Picture: James Mccauley/REX)

ELO – famed for hits including Mr Blue Sky and Evil Woman – are due to perform at major London festival BST Hyde Park on Sunday evening, which is billed to be their last ever UK gig. This comes after Jeff took to the stage in ELO’s home turf of Birmingham on Saturday night and in Manchester’s Co-Op Live – for their first of the two billed gigs at the venue yesterday (July 9) – with a broken hand, which left him unable to play guitar (Picture: Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Manchester Evening News report that he explained on stage yesterday: ‘I was in London and a taxi dashed off from where he was coming from and smashed my hand. It really hurt at the time. That’s why I haven’t got a guitar – I normally would have.’ After his first Manchester gig fans took to social media to express their concern over his health (Picture: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

‘Really hoping Jeff Lynne is doing ok at the end of tonight. Absolutely incredible concert and what a humble man, but I am very concerned about his health now,’ wrote attendee @Emilkywayz. She then explained how Jeff ‘asked to sit down towards the end, they got him a chair but it was quite tall’. The X user continued: ‘Was sliding down the chair and struggled to push himself up. He missed a few bits in Mr Blue Sky (though was still amazing to his credit). Crew and band helped him off stage at the end’ (Picture: Lester Cohen/Getty Images for ASCAP)

@DRClaireFox agreed that he ‘looked very unwell’ at the end of the gig, while @DaydreamerDotty, who was in the second row, said they ‘could see that Jeff started to look a bit unwell’. BST Hyde Park organisers billed Sunday’s gig as a ‘final goodbye’ from the band, which was founded in Birmingham in 1970 by Lynne and keyboardist Roy Wood. ‘My return to touring began at Hyde Park in 2014,’ Jeff said of the headline slot. ‘It seems like the perfect place to do our final show. We couldn’t be more excited to share this special night in London with our UK fans. As the song goes, ‘”we’re gonna do it One More Time”’ (Picture: Jorgen Angel/Redferns)

Richard Tandy, who had been bassist but became the keyboardist after the departure of Wood, died at the age of 76 earlier this year. The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, while frontman Jeff was made an OBE in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to music, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in 2015 (Picture: Boston Globe via Getty Images)