'I'm really sorry': Adele's shock announcement on eve of Vegas residency

Superstar Adele has shocked fans by pulling the opening shows of her much-anticipated new Las Vegas residency just one day before it was due to open.

The singer, whose fourth album 30 is riding high in the charts worldwide, made the tearful announcement via Instagram today, just over 24 hours before the first show was due to take place.

She explained that the residency, first announced last November, "wasn't ready" due to Covid and other production delays.

"I'm so sorry, but my show ain't ready. We've tried absolutely everything that we can to pull it together and have it ready in time for you, but we've been absolutely destroyed by delivery delays and Covid," she began, her voice shaking.

"Half my crew, half my team are down with Covid – still are. It's been impossible to finish the show. I can't give you what I have right now, and I'm gutted," she continued.

"I'm sorry it's so last-minute. We've been awake for over 30 hours now trying to figure it out and … we've run out of time. I'm so upset and I'm really embarrassed and I'm so sorry to everyone that's travelled again.

"I'm really, really sorry. We're on it, we're going to reschedule all of the dates, and I'm going to finish my show and get it to where it's supposed to be.

"It's been impossible. We've been up against so much and it just ain't ready," she continued, apologising repeatedly once more.

All dates will be rescheduled
More info coming soon
💔 pic.twitter.com/k0A4lXhW5l

— Adele (@Adele) January 20, 2022

The Weekends With Adele Vegas residency was set to debut on Friday, January 21 Las Vegas time and play two shows each weekend until April. With Adele set to earn almost $1 million per show, it was to be an easier alternative for an artist who famously does not enjoy touring and is now based just a short plane ride away from Vegas in Los Angeles.

It's not the first time Adele has been forced to pull a big show at the last minute: back in 2016, she was set to finish her Adele Live world tour with four massive shows at London's Wembley Arena. She had to cancel the final two of those shows at short notice due to damaged vocal cords, with almost 200,000 ticketholders affected.

It's unclear exactly how many shows in this residency will be affected by the pushback, with a caption accompanying Adele's Instagram announcement saying simply that "all dates will be rescheduled".