Maroon 5 are the latest band to feel the wrath of China’s stringent government policies, getting banned from entering the country after posting a tweet showing support for the Dalai Lama.
The US pop group had their Beijing and Shanghai September gigs, a part of their larger Asian tour, cancelled earlier this week, and although no official reasons were given it is assumedly due to a tweet keyboardist Jesse Carmichael posted this month, wishing the exiled spiritual leader a happy 80th birthday.
The tweet has since been deleted and this, along with the fact Maroon 5 were apart of the Dalai Lama’s birthday summit in California recently, most definitely means the Chinese government stepped in to halt their shows, much like they did with recent James Blake and Linkin Park gigs.
Whilst a blow for all Chinese Maroon 5 fans, the news does give more support to my policy of never wishing anyone happy birthday on Facebook. Think twice before you click send on that next “HBD!” wall post.
Watch: Maroon 5 – Sugar
