Adele tearfully postpones Las Vegas residency a day before first show due to COVID delays

• Adele shared a video on social media announcing that her Las Vegas residency had to be postponed.
• In a tearful video, she explained that "delivery delays and COVID" meant the show wasn't ready.

Adele shared a tearful apology on social media for postponing her Las Vegas residency a day before its first show.

The "Easy on Me" singer was due to play the 24 concerts at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace as part of a "Weekends with Adele" series starting today. They would have been her first public live concerts in five years after the release of her latest album, "30."

However, yesterday Adele shared a video on Instagram and Twitter saying that the shows had to be postponed due to her team catching COVID-19. COVID-19 cases have been high over the last month due to the new Omicron variant.

"I'm so sorry but my show ain't ready," Adele said with tears in her eyes. "We've tried absolutely everything we can to pull it together in time and for it to be good enough for you but we've been absolutely destroyed by delivery delays and Covid. Half my crew, half my team are down with Covid, they still are, and it's been impossible to finish the show."

She continued: "And I can't give you what I have right now and I'm gutted. I'm gutted and 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 traveled again. I'm really, really sorry. I'm really sorry."

Tickets for the series of concerts ranged between $85 to $685 and many fans had to pay extra to travel and book hotels to come to the event. Some fans told BBC Music Correspondent Mark Savage that they were upset that the announcement came so close to her first shows.

Josh Chavis, who said his wife Heather paid almost $1,800 for her hotel and flights from Kansas City to Vegas to attend one of the shows this weekend, told the BBC that it "would have made all the difference" to get refunds if Adele announced the postponement sooner.

"We recognize that things are hard for everyone, but this is a huge misstep on the part of both the performer and those responsible for putting the show together," he added.

Gillian Rowland-Kain, 32, who was on a flight to Las Vegas from New York when she found out about the cancellation told the BBC: "I was furious that Adele waited so last minute to make this call. I recognize it's not a call any artist wants to make but she would've known yesterday that the show wouldn't be ready by tomorrow. Her lack of notice is astounding. I'm angry and frustrated."

Adele ended her video assuring fans that her team was already trying to reschedule the concerts.

"We're on it – we're going to reschedule all of the dates, we're on it right now.

"I'm going to finish my show and I'm going to get it to where it's supposed to be. I'm so sorry, it's been impossible. We've been up against so much and it just ain't ready."