Alison Krauss cancels 17 concerts in the U.S.: doctors recommend vocal rest
American singer, violinist and multiple Grammy winner Alison Krauss has canceled the remaining concerts of her current U.S. tour with Union Station after medical professionals recommended a period of vocal rest. The decision affects performances scheduled from September 11 through October 3, 2026, in a number of U.S. states, including three consecutive nights in Nashville, a concert in Las Vegas and a festival performance in San Francisco. A statement from the band dated September 10 said that the purpose of the break is to allow Alison Krauss to make a complete and healthy recovery and to protect her voice. Organizers and the band also confirmed that tickets for the canceled concerts will be fully refunded, with buyers advised to contact the point of purchase with any questions.
The cancellation came immediately before the Arcadia 2026 tour was due to resume. The first affected concert was scheduled to take place on September 11 in Davenport, Iowa, and on September 12 Krauss and Union Station were due to perform as part of the Ravinia festival in Highland Park, Illinois. Ravinia's official website has already marked the September 12 event as canceled. The band's statement does not provide a specific diagnosis or specify how long the period of vocal rest should last, so it is currently impossible to reliably estimate when Krauss might return to concert performances. The band nevertheless said that it hopes to return to the affected cities in the future.
17 performances canceled from Iowa to California
The list published by music media outlets based on the management's statement contains 15 schedule entries, but one of them refers to a three-day run in Nashville from September 18 to 20. When each of those three evenings is counted separately, the total is 17 canceled performances. This explains why some reports mention 15 dates while others cite 17 concerts. The cancellations affect the Midwest, the South and the western United States, with the tour originally scheduled to end in California in early October.
- September 11 - Davenport, Iowa
- September 12 - Highland Park, Illinois
- September 13 - Champaign, Illinois
- September 15 - Evansville, Indiana
- September 16 - Danville, Kentucky
- September 18 - Nashville, Tennessee
- September 19 - Nashville, Tennessee
- September 20 - Nashville, Tennessee
- September 22 - St. Louis, Missouri
- September 24 - Austin, Texas
- September 25 - Norman, Oklahoma
- September 26 - Lubbock, Texas
- September 28 - Flagstaff, Arizona
- September 29 - Las Vegas, Nevada
- October 1 - Alpine, California
- October 2 - Paso Robles, California
- October 3 - San Francisco, California
The planned three-day stay at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, one of the best-known concert venues associated with the American country and roots tradition, was particularly significant. Ryman's current events page lists the Alison Krauss & Union Station performance as canceled, while the earlier schedule had concerts planned for September 18, 19 and 20. The tour was also due to arrive at the Encore Theater in the Wynn Las Vegas complex on September 29, and the venue's official website no longer shows available dates for that performance. In all cases where tickets had been sold, the band announced full refunds, although refund processing times may depend on the point of sale and the rules of the individual organizer.
San Francisco loses one of the festival's prominent names
The final date on the schedule was October 3 in San Francisco, where Alison Krauss & Union Station were due to perform at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the group had withdrawn from that performance as part of the broader tour cancellation. The festival is scheduled for October 2 to 4, 2026, and takes place at Hellman Hollow, Lindley Meadow and Marx Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Because Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a free event for which standard tickets are not required, the refund announcement does not apply to the San Francisco festival performance in the same way as it does to ticketed indoor concerts.
Krauss and Union Station were among the more notable names on Saturday's program, alongside a range of established performers from bluegrass, country, folk, rock and the broader American roots scene. According to a San Francisco Chronicle report published after the cancellation, organizers had not yet announced a replacement for the group at that time. Official festival information confirms that the 2026 edition will take place during the first weekend of October, with performances ending at 7 p.m. each day and streams from multiple stages. For audiences, this means that the festival remains scheduled as planned, but without a performance by Alison Krauss & Union Station.
Doctors recommended vocal rest, diagnosis not disclosed
A statement reported by People, Relix, Bluegrass Today and other U.S. media said that Alison Krauss had consulted medical professionals and had been advised to undergo a period of vocal rest in order to ensure a complete and healthy recovery. The band emphasized that the decision was not made lightly because it feels a strong connection with its audience, but that health and preserving her voice are the priority at this time. No details have been released about the nature of the problem, any possible diagnosis, treatment or the estimated duration of recovery. Therefore, any speculation about the cause of the problem or a possible date for returning to the stage would be unfounded.
That wording is also important for understanding the scope of the news: this is a preventive health decision made following medical advice, not a publicly announced specific illness. The available statement contains no indication that this represents a permanent withdrawal from touring or a suspension of the band's activities. On the contrary, the message that the band hopes to return to the affected cities suggests an intention to resume concert activity when health circumstances allow. However, as of September 12, 2026, no replacement dates had been announced for the canceled performances, so ticket holders should follow notices from organizers and points of sale.
The tour followed Union Station's major return with the album Arcadia
The canceled concerts were part of the Arcadia 2026 tour, a continuation of the concert cycle accompanying the return of Alison Krauss & Union Station after a long period without a new studio album. According to Alison Krauss's official website, the album Arcadia was released on March 28, 2025, almost 14 years after the 2011 album Paper Airplane. The new release featured nine songs, including Looks Like The End of the Road, The Hangman, Granite Mills, Richmond on the James and North Side Gal. The band's official materials describe Arcadia as a continuation of its distinctive blend of bluegrass, country and folk, with a strong emphasis on vocal harmonies and acoustic virtuosity.
The current lineup consists of Alison Krauss on fiddle and lead vocals, Jerry Douglas on dobro and lap steel guitar, Ron Block on banjo and guitar, Barry Bales on bass, and Russell Moore on guitar and mandolin, with several members also contributing vocals. Promotional materials for the tour frequently used the name Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, while singer-songwriter Theo Lawrence was announced as a special guest at a number of concerts. In this lineup, the band continued the tradition of a group whose sound has expanded over the decades beyond the strictly defined boundaries of bluegrass into country, folk and pop, while retaining an acoustic foundation and vocal harmony as key elements of its identity.
Union Station's return carried additional significance because the group had released its previous studio album before Arcadia in 2011, although Krauss continued a separate career in the meantime. Particularly notable was her collaboration with Robert Plant, with whom she released the album Raise the Roof in 2021, while their first joint album, Raising Sand from 2007, won a number of Grammys, including Album of the Year. At the same time, Krauss remained closely connected to the bluegrass scene and to Union Station, making the group's return with the album Arcadia and its accompanying tours one of the more important events in contemporary American roots music.
One of the most awarded musicians in Grammy history
According to the Recording Academy's official database, Alison Krauss has won 27 Grammys and received 46 nominations through 2026. She has won awards in the fields of bluegrass, country, American roots music, pop and other categories, demonstrating how extensively her career has crossed genre boundaries. She shares a large portion of those honors with Union Station, while also achieving additional international success through collaborations with Robert Plant and other performers. Her combination of singing, fiddle playing and an exceptionally precise production aesthetic has made her one of the most influential figures in modern bluegrass and roots music.
Krauss has been active since her teenage years, and Union Station developed into a band with its own distinctive identity and a lasting influence on American acoustic music. The Recording Academy states that Alison Krauss & Union Station have won 14 Grammys, while the band's official biography highlights almost four decades of working together. The group's longevity is particularly evident in the period following Arcadia: instead of a nostalgic return limited to old songs, the band built its concert repertoire around new material alongside the best-known songs from earlier stages of its career. That is precisely why the cancellation of the final stretch of the U.S. tour affects audiences in a large number of cities at a time when the band had once again become intensely active on the concert circuit.
Current nominations confirm that the comeback was not merely a touring event
In July 2026, the International Bluegrass Music Association named Alison Krauss & Union Station among the nominees for Entertainer of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year at the 37th IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards. Krauss herself was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, Barry Bales for Bass Player of the Year, Jerry Douglas for Resonator Guitar Player of the Year, Ron Block for Banjo Player of the Year, and Russell Moore for Male Vocalist of the Year. The winners are scheduled to be announced on October 22 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. These nominations confirm that the group's return with Arcadia was not limited to a commercial tour, but strongly repositioned the band within the contemporary bluegrass scene.
The album Arcadia was also nominated at the 68th Grammy Awards in the Best Bluegrass Album category, while the song Richmond on the James received a nomination for Best American Roots Performance. Although the current cancellations temporarily interrupt the concert portion of that comeback, the band's recording and professional presence remain strong. For audiences, the most important practical information now is that all paid concerts between September 11 and October 3 have been canceled and that a full refund of ticket prices is planned. Any new dates or schedule changes will require waiting for official announcements from the band, venues and organizers.
For now, there is no official confirmation as to whether any of the 17 canceled performances will later be rescheduled for a new date or whether the cities will be included in a future tour. The band's wording that it hopes to return leaves that possibility open, but does not constitute an announcement of specific replacement concerts. Because health details have not been released, the focus remains on the vocal rest recommended by medical professionals and on Alison Krauss's complete recovery. Until new information is available, audiences should check refund status with the original point of sale and rely on the official channels of the artist and organizers.
Sources:
- Alison Krauss Official - official discography and information on the album Arcadia and earlier releases (link)
- Alison Krauss Official - official band biography and context for Union Station's return (link)
- Bluegrass Today - statement on the cancellation of the remaining tour dates, ticket refunds and the list of affected cities (link)
- Relix - confirmation of the tour cancellation due to recommended vocal rest and a detailed schedule of affected performances (link)
- Ravinia Festival - official confirmation that the September 12, 2026 concert in Highland Park was canceled (link)
- Ryman Auditorium - official schedule and status of Alison Krauss & Union Station's three-day Nashville engagement (link)
- Wynn Las Vegas - official information on the planned Encore Theater performance and the Arcadia 2026 tour lineup (link)
- Hardly Strictly Bluegrass - official information on the date and location of the 2026 festival in Golden Gate Park (link)
- San Francisco Chronicle - report on Alison Krauss & Union Station withdrawing from their Hardly Strictly Bluegrass performance (link)
- Recording Academy / Grammy - official information on Alison Krauss's and Union Station's awards, nominations and careers (link)
- International Bluegrass Music Association - official list of nominations for the 2026 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards (link)