John Mayer pulls out of Dead and Company performance after testing positive for COVID-19

American singer-songwriter John Mayer will not be performing as a frontman for his group Dead and Company at the Playing in the Sand festival, after testing COVID-19 positive just before he was to head to Mexico for the performance.

An Instagram statement from the band read, "Today, just prior to leaving for Mexico, as per his physician, @JohnMayer tested positive for COVID-19 and will be unable to perform at the upcoming 'Playing in the Sand' event in Riviera Cancun January 7-10."

According to Variety, Mayer is the second Dead and Company band member to have to bow out of the shows. Earlier, drummer Bill Kreutztmann had announced he would not be making the festival, either, citing a doctor's advice.

Kreutztmann had recently acknowledged health issues after exiting a fall Hollywood Bowl concert midway through the show. "We came down here to have fun. Unfortunately, some of our brothers cannot make it but fun is what we're going to have," Bob Weir said in the post.

A band representative confirmed Mayer's positive diagnosis to Variety. Mayer, who has been successfully alternating Dead and Company tours with his own solo outings, has not posted any news about his status himself.

The event is also scheduled to continue January 13-16, but no mention of those dates was made in the text or accompanying graphic, perhaps to leave open at least the possibility that Mayer might be cleared to play the second weekend.

The announcement from the band offered an attempt at a silver lining in the cloud of the lineup shifts. "In these unprecedented times fans should expect many rare and different tunes," the statement promised.

As per Variety, for now, at least, the refund window that closed on December 31 remains shut, with no indication that anyone who might have been attending with the expectation of seeing Mayer could still get in on opting out.

( With inputs from ANI )

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