Jay-Z concert in Fresno abruptly canceled; local rap music fans miss out again

Only days before rapper Jay-Z was to perform in Fresno, his Nov. 1 concert at the Save Mart Center has been abruptly canceled.

The cancellation was announced Friday evening, and there was no explanation by Saturday. Save Mart Center officials could not be reached for comment.

Based on tickets available online earlier this week, the concert seemed to have slow sales.

Even on secondary ticket sales website Stubhub.com as of Friday, some tickets were selling for just $6.

Jay-Z announced in July that he would go on an extensive North American tour, called the 4:44 Tour, and had plans to hit most major markets through the end of the year.

The Fresno concert was supposed to be the third of 31 stops.

Despite the cancellation in Fresno, Jay-Z still opened as scheduled Friday at Honda Center in Anaheim.

His tour was to move Saturday to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It was nearly a year ago that fellow rapper Kanye West canceled a concert in Fresno on short notice, too.

West announced the cancellation of the remainder of his Saint Pablo Tour just one day before he was to perform at Save Mart Center.

Jay-Z has sold more than 100 million records and received 21 Grammy Awards.

Among his hits are “Izzo” and “I Just Wanna Love U.”

Jay-Z also has been a featured rapper on hit collaborations with artists such as R. Kelly (“Fiesta Remix”), Rihanna (“Umbrella”) and wife Beyonce (“Crazy in Love”).

This is the second time a Jay-Z appearance in Fresno has been called off.

In 2001, when he was arguably most popular, a radio station’s Spring Jam concert that featured the rapper was canceled because of poor ticket sales.

This story was originally published October 27, 2017 at 8:06 PM with the headline "Jay-Z concert in Fresno abruptly canceled; local rap music fans miss out again."