"The combination of extreme heat, unpredictable flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and massive forest fires”: Steve Miller cancels tour due to... the weather

Steve Miller has cancelled all his remaining tour dates this year, not because of illness or injury, but due to… the weather.

The 81-year-old musician put a message out on Facebook, saying: "Dear Steve Miller Band fans, You make music with your instincts. You live your life by your instincts. Always trust your instincts…

"The combination of extreme heat, unpredictable flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and massive forest fires make these risks for you our audience, the band and the crew unacceptable. So…
You can blame it on the weather... The tour is cancelled. Don't know where, don't know when… We hope to see you all again.”

The tour was to have started in Bethel, New York on August 15, winding up in Anaheim, California on November 8. This then begs the question: is Miller some sort of weather prophet, a seer who can accurately predict the near future?

His statement suggests that he is, and that in the next few months the US will be afflicted by a barrage of adverse climatic conditions which could be rightly described (for once) as ‘biblical’.

If this is true, you might well ask – why has Miller not used his immense talents before? Surely his true calling all this time has been meterology? Even at 81, it may not be too late to use his visionary powers for good…

Alternatively, it could be that he just can’t be bothered.

To be serious for a minute, Miller does have a reputation for being, well, a bit difficult. A decade back he made headlines by becoming the grumpiest ever inductee into the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame.

After the ceremony in 2016, the guitarist conducted interviews in which he described it as “an amateur production”, said “the whole process was unpleasant” and described the music industry as “a bunch of jackasses and jerks and fucking gangsters and crooks who’ve fucking stolen everything from a fucking artist”.

That night he was inducted in by The Black Keys, who were far from impressed by Miller’s behaviour. “For Pat and I, honestly, the most unpleasant part was being around him,” said the Keys’ Dan Auerbach of that night.

Auerbach said that Miller didn’t appear to know who their band were and made no effort to find out. “Pat and I were both definitely disappointed, to say the least. But you never really know what to expect when you meet quote-unquote ‘superstars.’”