Jeff Lynne’s ELO Cancel Final Concert Due to Illness

Jeff Lynne’s ELO, June 2016 (Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Jeff Lynne’s ELO—the reformed version of Lynne’s ’70s and ’80s prog-pop outfit Electric Light Orchestra—have cancelled what was slated to be their final show ever. The performance had been scheduled for tonight, July 13, to close out BST Hyde Park’s 2025 summer concert series. A statement shared with Pitchfork explains that “Jeff 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 time nor will he be able to reschedule.”

“The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today,” the statement continues, “and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time.”

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In 2024, Jeff Lynne’s ELO announced their Over and Out farewell tour of North America, which was subsequently extended into a run of European dates. The band were also forced to cancel a performance at Manchester’s Co-Op Live last Thursday (July 10) due to Lynne’s illness.

Lynne founded the Electric Light Orchestra in 1970 alongside Roy Wood and Bev Bevan. The band released four U.S. platinum records—A New World Record, Out of the Blue, Discovery, and Xanadu—before their breakup in 1986. 2014 saw the formation of Jeff Lynne’s ELO, who went on to release two albums under the moniker: 2015’s Alone in the Universe and 2019’s From Out of Nowhere. In 2020, Lynne was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

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Originally Appeared on Pitchfork