Frank Ocean admitted he felt like an "a--hole" for suddenly dropping out of a string of 10 opening dates for Coldplay and a string of European festival dates over the weekend, but the Best New Artist VMA-nominated singer said he was forced to make some hard choices about his schedule in the upcoming months.
"Let me start by saying I feel like an a--hole right now, but a tough decision had to be made in regard to my schedule over the next months and the casualties of that decision include my appearances at upcoming festivals in Europe and my opening slot on the European leg of the Coldplay world tour," Ocean said in a statement. "Sorry as f---, I'll be back if you'll have me." Ocean didn't elaborate on what conflicts caused the sudden action, which includes canceled performances at the Flow Festival in Finland, Pukkelpop in Belgium, Britain's V Festival and the Rock En Seine festival in Paris and the Bestival on England's Isle of Wight in September.
He was slated to play the Way Out Festival on Saturday, a day after he cut short an appearance at Norway's Oye Festival after just four songs, citing vocal problems, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He was also scheduled to fill a 10-city opening slot on Coldplay's European stadium outing, including gigs in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Cologne, Paris, Munich and Warsaw. Ocean also pulled out of an August 1 show in Detroit citing illness, but put on a crowd-pleasing performance at the Lollapalooza festival just two days later.