No word yet on whether summer performers will cancel concerts

According to this year’s schedule of visiting performers, Lionel Richie was the last musician to come to Israel from abroad, with his Election Day concert on March 2.

Let’s hope he’s not the last for this season.

So far, none of the upcoming performers have canceled in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the promoters and public relations firms handling their visits, but that could quickly change.

Morrissey, the former Smiths lead singer, is still slated to return here for two intimate concerts in May. He’s scheduled to play Zappa Amphi Shuni on May 9 and Tel Aviv’s Bitan 1 on May 11, both locations with limited seating.

No word from his promoter or website about any changes to his concert dates.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are also set to come back to town on June 10, playing in Tel Aviv’s Ganei Yehoshua. The band beloved to Israelis has already rescheduled some of its upcoming shows in April, but has left its May dates untouched.

English heavy metal band Iron Maiden is scheduled to make its way back to Israel this spring, with a concert on May 30 at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium.

The band, still together after 45 years, is set to feature Israeli heavy metal outfit Orphaned Land as its opening act for the concert, part of its global Legacy of the Beast World Tour. It was last here 25 years ago.

So far, the band has rescheduled its upcoming Australia and New Zealand shows and left the following message on its Facebook page:

There was no immediate word about its Israel date.

The romantic French-Canadian crooner Celine Dion postponed all of her recent concerts through early April, reportedly because of a bad cold amid the coronavirus crisis.

But on May 24, she is supposed to hit the Czech Republic, kicking off a European tour that will bring her on August 4 to Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park. For now, those dates remain on her official website and Facebook pages.

The Tu B’Av show, marking the Israeli Valentine’s Day, has been a long time in planning, said promoter Shuki Weiss. Some 20,000 lucky lovebirds will get to hear “My Heart Will Go On” under the stars, with a special amphitheater constructed just for the show — if the virus will allow it.