Lionel Richie at Essence Festival 2014. Photo by Pompo Bresciani.

Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey reschedule New Orleans concert due to surgery

Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey have rescheduled their upcoming show at New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center because has not yet fully recovered from a recent knee surgery.

The concert was originally slated for Thursday, May 18, but will now take place on Sunday, August 6.

“When you have been performing as long as I have it takes a toll on your body.  Unfortunately my recovery from a knee procedure will not have me 100% ready to start the tour next month,” said Richie.  “I don’t want to disappoint my fans and I look forward to being back on stage so we can all be ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’ together again.”

All tickets for the original date will be honored when the show finally does come to New Orleans. However, refunds are also available at the point of purchase.

Billed as the All The Hits Tour, the outing will find the Richie and Carey on the road together for the first time ever.

Richie has been performing fairly consistently for the past few years, headlining popular youth-oriented festivals like Bonnaroo, Outside Lands and Glastonbury. He’s also been holding down a residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino since April of this year.

Carey’s last album, Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse, was released in 2014. The signer has focused on her acting career in recent years as well, with parts in films like Precious, The Butler and an upcoming voice acting part in The Lego Batman Movie.

Tickets for the show are still on sale.