DOWNTOWN — A major figure in African pop music has had to cancel a pair of outdoor Chicago shows next month because of visa problems brought on by a U.S. State Department computer snafu.
King Sunny Ade is canceling his entire U.S. tour set for this summer, including a show July 6 at the Pritzker Pavilion as part of the Downtown Sound series, as well as one the following Sunday at the Square Roots Festival in Lincoln Square.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. State Department blamed "a global computer hardware failure" that has held up visa processing around the world for the last two weeks.
Ade, the acknowledged king of Nigerian juju music, first played Chicago 32 years ago as part of the last ChicagoFest. He had a band then, as he tried to break big in America, of about 25 people, many of them percussionists whose talking drums provided his music with its uniquely percolating drive.
Ade was returning with a slightly smaller, streamlined band this tour, but now those shows are off.
"We are beyond disappointed that King Sunny Ade has been forced to cancel his entire tour," said Alisa Baum, concert director at the Old Town School of Folk Music, lead sponsor of the Square Roots Festival. "As a passionate fan of African music, I was very excited about this show, which promised to be spectacular with over 20 musicians and dancers onstage.
"The recent problems that the U.S. has had processing visas has had worldwide repercussions that are quite serious," she added. "In the grand scheme of things, this cancelation doesn’t have a huge impact, but it is still a major loss for our festival."
Baum said an additional artist would be added to the Sunday Square Roots lineup to fill Ade's scheduled slot at 6 p.m.
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events said Tuesday that Ade would be replaced by Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars in the July 6 Downtown Sound performance at Millennium Park.
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