According to Yahoo! Entertainment, American hip-hop artist Chance the Rapper has cancelled his headlining performance at the Australian music festival Splendour in the Grass. The cancellation came only 24 hours before he was due to be onstage. This is the third major music festival he has cancelled on in the past few weeks.

Chance has cited medical issues getting in the way of his ability to fly to the festival as the reason for his late cancellation. The cancellation has been especially devastating to Australian concertgoers because of just how few global superstars they get for performances. Splendour in the Grass was able to quickly lock down Australian hip-hop group Hilltop Hoods as Chance’s replacement. While the group has been hugely successful in Australia, racking up six number one albums on the Australian charts, three of which were certified multi-platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, it’s certainly difficult for a festival to conjure up a replacement that could match the global star power of an artist like Chance in the limited time that they had.

The Splendor festival producers have been extremely apologetic and transparent about their struggles after they found out about the cancellation. The situation is made even more disheartening by the fact that Chance’s debut studio album, The Big Day, is due for release a week after he was supposed to perform.  Many fans were expecting his performance to include new material, but they have been left disappointed.

Chance’s Australian fanbase have been voicing their concerns on social media ever since the announcement. Some fans have even demanded medical evidence that he is unable to make to Australia for the performance. Fortunately for those who bought tickets just for the Chance performance, Splendour in the Grass is offering refunds on all Sunday single day passes to the festival.

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna