Ben Pearce cancels all upcoming shows for 2016

British House DJ & producer Ben Pearce has released a statement on Facebook (as well as other social media accounts) regarding his depression which has lead him to come to a state where he can no longer perform any live shows for the time being which is, as it stands, the rest of 2016.

This is not the only time where artists have had to cancel live shows due to the psychological effects of touring. Avicii has had personal problems due to excessive touring as well as Idir from Blasterjaxx who in December last year suffered panic attacks caused by the stress issues of touring. Many artists, such as Martin Garrix, have said touring is not all fun & games and do start to miss friends & family as it’s difficult to maintain your personal life when touring.

Artists such as My Nu Leng, Eats Everything & xxxy have shared their support for Ben on twitter & everyone from We Rave You wishes Ben Pearce a speedy recovery and good luck for the future!

Read the full Facebook post written by Ben Pearce here:

I have an important message for all my fans, especially anybody who is planning on seeing me DJ this year.

It is with a deep regret I am cancelling all my upcoming shows for 2016. I’ve battled with depression for the past few years and despite professional help I have reached a place where I know this is sadly the only choice I’m left with. It has nearly pushed me to saying goodbye altogether a few times and now more than ever I feel that is a huge risk. It’s affected every part of my life, I never used to have social or performance anxiety and now I suffer with it terribly. It is real, it isn’t talked about enough in society or the music industry and I hope my fans and fellow industry members can understand my decision. It can be easy to hide behind your social media or intoxicants and pretend it isn’t happening but that doesn’t help in the long run.

This isn’t a goodbye forever at this stage; this is taking the time and the steps necessary to make an attempt at recovery towards leading a healthy mental state of mind. I may still be making music, I’m not sure yet what will happen. I hope I can come back from this, I know deep down I am truly grateful and lucky to be able to do this for a living.

Lastly I would like to thank each and every one of you who has supported me, you’re the only reason I’m not still working in a call centre and do not for one second think I am not extremely grateful for that.

Ben x