Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) frontman Jeff Lynne has cancelled what had been billed as his final ever performance, owing to ill health.
Lynne was due to appear at the BST Hyde Park festival series on Sunday night, closing what had been the band’s farewell “Over and Out” tour, 55 years since the band formed.
A spokesperson for the concerts said he had a “systemic infection”. They added Lynne would not be able to reschedule. BST said the whole concert, which was to have performances by Steve Winwood and the Doobie Brothers as well as Lynne, would be cancelled. It said ticket holders would be refunded.
The decision comes days after the 77-year-old axed a concert in Manchester shortly before he was scheduled to come out on stage.
He had appeared on stage in Birmingham in a home town send-off a week ago, but was unable to play his trademark guitar owing to a broken wrist, suffered during a taxi crash in London.
A statement from BST Hyde Park said: “Jeff Lynne is heartbroken to report that he will not be able to perform at tomorrow’s BST Hyde Park show.
“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 at this time nor will he be able to reschedule.
“The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today – and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time.”
Lynne had previously described the Hyde Park gig as a fitting way to end his career.
He had begun his return to touring with a concert at the park in central London in 2014.
Lynne had said: “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.”
If he does not play in front of live audiences again, it would bring an end to a career that took in No 1 albums with ELO, which he founded with the drummer Bev Bevan and the vocalist Roy Wood in 1970.
The band split in 1986, with Lynne saying he had lost interest. Bevan formed his own band, ELO Part II.
Apart from a brief comeback in 2001, Lynne did not play with ELO until 2014, with the band rebranded as Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra along with longtime band member, the pianist Richard Tandy.
Tandy died in 2024 and Lynne carried on as the final original member of the band still a part of the group.