Jill Scott has postponed the final four stops of her North American tour, including two shows at Sugar Land's Smart Financial Centre and two in the Dallas area, after testing positive for COVID-19. The 53-year-old Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, actress and poet was expected to perform Sunday and Monday at the Sugar Land venue before the diagnosis forced a last-minute change of plans.
Scott said what doctors initially believed was a minor virus turned out to be COVID-19, according to the Houston Chronicle. She said she felt okay but could not go out without a mask, and that she had to reschedule her last four shows on the U.S. tour for everyone's safety and wellness. The Sugar Land dates have been moved to September 11 and 12, while the Dallas-area shows, originally set for the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, have been pushed to September 14 and 15.
A Homecoming Tour Built Around a Long-Awaited Album
The postponed shows are part of Scott's To Whom This May Concern World Tour, which she launched behind her sixth studio album of the same name, released Feb. 13. It marked her first new studio project in 11 years and reached top-ten positions across seven Billboard charts, according to Daily News Now. In an interview cited by NPR, Scott described the album as a personal revolution aimed at encouraging listeners toward self-actualization.
The tour itself is a sprawling undertaking. Announced in March, the trek spans 36 dates across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom and South Africa, with the run scheduled to wrap up in Cape Town in November, according to Rated R&B. The North American leg had been due to close out in Texas before Scott's band headed overseas. Demand for the Sugar Land stop was strong enough that Scott announced an additional show in March after the first night sold out.
Three Decades of Grammy-Winning Work
Scott's career stretches back to a chance discovery at a Philadelphia poetry reading, where Questlove of The Roots first heard her perform, according to the Philadelphia Music Alliance. Her 2000 debut album, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1, went double-platinum and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. She has since won three Grammys among 14 nominations, including Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2005 for “Cross My Mind” and Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2007 for “God Bless The Child,” per the Recording Academy's own Grammy.com. Across her career she has won eight awards total, including multiple Grammys and NAACP Image Awards.
Beyond music, Scott has built a substantial acting resume, starring as Mma Precious Ramotswe in the 2008 HBO/BBC series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and appearing in Tyler Perry's films Why Did I Get Married? and its 2010 sequel, according to AALBC.
What Ticket Holders in Sugar Land and Irving Should Know
The Smart Financial Centre, owned by the City of Sugar Land and completed in January 2017 for $91.45 million, is a 200,000-square-foot venue whose articulating side walls allow seating capacity to shift between 1,900 and 6,400, according to the City of Sugar Land Economic Development office. It has hosted a run of high-profile acts this year, including Diana Ross, Bun B's Ridin' Dirty 30th anniversary concert, and a roast marking Geto Boys member Willie D's 60th birthday. The venue is operated by ATG Entertainment, which acquired its operating rights in 2019 and manages a slate of prominent venues across North America and London's West End.
Under CDC respiratory virus guidance updated in 2024, people who test positive for COVID-19 are no longer required to isolate for five days, but are advised to stay home until fever-free for 24 hours without medication and to wear masks in public settings, a standard that appears consistent with Scott's decision to reschedule rather than perform. Ticket holders typically don't need to take any action: standard industry policy holds that when a concert is postponed and rescheduled, original tickets remain valid for the new dates, and ticketing vendors generally open a window for fans to request refunds if they can't attend the new dates.
Scott's postponement adds to a string of high-profile late-notice cancellations this month, including Rod Stewart's postponed Cincinnati show and Benson Boone's last-minute delay in Sacramento, both tied to health concerns. For now, fans holding tickets to the Sugar Land and Irving shows can expect Scott to take the stage in mid-September, once she's cleared to perform without a mask.
