Donald Fagen Halts Solo Tour Due to Illness
Donald Fagen has canceled the final dates on his North American solo tour, citing illness. The shelved concerts include stops in Seattle tonight, Saratoga, Calif., on Friday and San Francisco on Saturday.
It's been a difficult few weeks for Fagen, who was on the road with his latest project, the Nightflyers, when his longtime Steely Dan partner Walter Becker suddenly died on Sept. 3. Becker had been in ill health for some time, having missed Steely Dan's Classic East and West stops.
Becker and Fagen co-founded the band in 1972. They originally collaborated with a regular working lineup of musicians before shifting Steely Dan into a two-man creative vehicle, surrounding themselves with some of music's most well-respected session men. The group took a break beginning in the early '80s, eventually reuniting a decade later – first as producers on one another's solo projects, and then officially as Steely Dan. Two more studio albums followed. The first of them, 2000's Two Against Nature, earned a Grammy for album of the year.
After Becker's death, Fagen released an official statement stating his intention to "keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."
Looking down the road, Fagen has more scheduled solo shows between Sept. 20-24 in Japan. Steely Dan then regather for the first time without Becker for a string of October concerts.
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