After announcing that keyboardist Coen Janssen would sit out their upcoming North American tour, Epica have more bad news for their fans. The Dutch band has been forced to cancel a few of their shows on this tour, in Quebec City, Toronto, Chicago, and Minneapolis. The band promises an update soon but unfortunately, Simone Simons has to deal with a serious situation in her close family.

Their official statement: "Dear North American fans, luck has not been on Epica side as of late and it is with heavy hearts we share some unfortunate news.

"A couple of days ago something dramatic happened in Simone's close family. After serious consideration and as things aren't looking good, the only option for her is to fly back home to be there with and for her family. Resulting in us canceling the four upcoming shows (Quebec City, Toronto, Chicago, Minneapolis.)

"Respect to Simone for carrying on and rocking out with us for the past couple of days. VIP sessions will still take place without Simone, people who don't show up these sessions will automatically receive a refund. We will also be hanging out at the merchandise stand in support of the tour. At this time, the Revolver tour will carry on as scheduled with Eluveitie and The Agonist, and we'll keep you updated on resuming the tour. We want to thank you in advance for your understanding. For details on refunding your tickets please contact your local venue. We're sending all our positive energy to Simone, her family and friends. Take care, Epica."

Update: "We want to thank all our fans for all the support and you have shown Simone. We want to thank you for the understanding that we have been forced to cancel shows and we want to thank everybody who still came out to the show and hung out with us and joined us for the VIP sessions. We hope to have an update soon!"

Source:	epica.nl
Band profile:	Epica
Event:	Epica: North American Tour 2015