Bob Dylan cancels Asian tour

Bob Dylan (68), an American singer-songwriter and musician, has cancelled his planned tour of Asia this month after he was refused permission to play in China.

The legendary musician was to take his Never Ending Tour to Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, reports the Daily Star.

Officials in the Chinese government reportedly refused to grant the folk star permission to play gigs in Beijing and Shanghai, leading Dylan to cancel all of his planned Asian dates. Jeffrey Wu, of Taiwan-based promotion company Brokers Brothers Herald, said, “The chance to play in China was the main attraction for Dylan. When that fell through everything else was called off.

“What Björk did definitely made life very difficult for other performers. They are very wary of what will be said by performers on stage now.”

China’s Ministry of Culture has been especially careful about vetting overseas artists after Björk made a protest about China’s occupation of Tibet during a concert in Shanghai.