Acclaimed indie band cancels shows as fans express concern over singer’s health

The indie rock band Bright Eyes announced on Thursday that they have canceled three upcoming shows as lead singer Conor Oberst has lost his voice.

"We're heartbroken to announce that our upcoming record release shows have been canceled," the band said in a statement posted to the group's Instagram account. "The warm up shows we played earlier this week resulted in Conor losing his voice and, on the advice of doctors, we've made the difficult but sensible decision to prioritize rest and recuperation for the remainder of the month."

The canceled shows are: Sept 19 at Brooklyn Steel, NYC; Sept 21 at Riotfest, Chicago; and Sept 22 at Steelhouse, Omaha.

"We're working hard to reschedule these dates and will keep you updated as soon as we have more info. In the meantime, refunds will be available at the point of purchase," the statement said.

The band's latest album, "Five Dice, All Threes," comes out today.

The cancelation news comes as fans expressed concern over Oberst's behavior at recent shows, according to Newsweek .

Fan footage from a show in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 15 showed Oberst, 44, slurring his words and telling the crowd that he forgot part of the verses.

Oberst then apologized for his "voice being so [expletive] up," and said he was going "kill myself" because of it. After a band member talked to him, he then said, "Apparently, I'm not supposed to say that on stage ... a.k.a I'm not going to kill myself."

"I'm worried about Conor Oberst," one user wrote on X in the wake of that show, Newsweek reported.

"Man, that Conor Oberst video is [expletive] rough," another user wrote. "Feels like we're watching something awful occuring in real time."

Oberst founded Bright Eyes in 1998. The other members are Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott. Oberst was dubbed the Best Songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone.