Chris Robinson Slams Tour Cancellations Over Mental Health
The Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson has weighed in on the way younger artists discuss mental health, arguing that today’s touring culture is far more forgiving than what bands faced in the 1990s. In a recent interview, Robinson contrasted his group’s early years with what he described as a modern tendency to cancel shows citing wellbeing concerns.
Recalling The Black Crowes’ nonstop schedule, Vulture quoted Robinson saying, “You see a lot of kids and they’re like, ‘I canceled my shows because I’m having a mental-health issue.’ And I’m like, Jesus, the whole ’90s was a mental-health issue for us. We just had no choice. F*cking get out. You got to go do the gig.”
Robinson added that bands of his era rarely had the option to take time off even when internal pressures were boiling over. “Every band documentary you see, they always go, ‘If we could just have taken six months off, we could have cooled off.’ You didn’t do that. You didn’t get the chance,” he said, describing a period when performers were expected to keep moving regardless of personal strain.
He also pointed to the scale of touring expectations early in The Black Crowes’ career, saying their first run behind Shake Your Money Maker totalled “350 shows in 18 months.” That kind of pace, he suggested, makes the present-day environment feel “much more gentle.” For more background on the band’s wider orbit, Robinson’s comments arrive as fans continue revisiting projects like Jimmy Page’s work with The Black Crowes and how those collaborations have been documented in recent years.
Robinson’s remarks add to a long-running conversation in rock about how the industry handles artist wellbeing, particularly as public expectations and touring economics continue to shift. While his perspective is rooted in a notoriously punishing era, the debate over when it’s appropriate to pull the plug on shows remains a live issue for bands, promoters, and ticket-holders alike.
