#Vanilla Ice postpones 4th of July 2020 concert due to COVID-19

Vanilla Ice has scrapped a 1990s-themed 4th of July concert in Austin, Texas, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Due to the increase in COVID-19 numbers in Austin we’re gonna move the concert to a better date,” he wrote in a caption for a video posted Thursday on Twitter. “We were hoping for better coronavirus numbers by July but unfortunately the numbers have increased quite a bit so for the safety and health of everyone we’re going to stay home.”

In the video, he said, “Basically, I’m not goin’ ” — with a quick chuckle. “I listen to my fans. I hear all you people out there.”

He added that he “didn’t know the numbers were so crazy in Austin, but we were hoping it’d be a lot better by 4th of July, cuz we booked this concert a long time ago.” On Wednesday, the city surpassed 10,000 cases of COVID-19.

The 52-year-old rapper, born Robert Matthew Van Winkle, had planned a throwback event at Emerald Point Bar & Grill on the shores of Lake Travis. “The 90s were the best. We didn’t have coronavirus, or cell phones, or computers,” he wrote in an Instagram post earlier this week. “We had 5.0’s, Blockbuster, ‘Beavis and Butt-Head,’ ‘Wayne’s World,’ Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan … ‘Mortal Kombat’ is still better than ‘Fortnight’ [sic] … the last of the great decades.”

In his cancellation video, he said, “Basically, just wanna stay safe.”

Vanilla Ice closed out the message with an emphatic wish: “Hopefully, by New Year’s, this corona crap will have a cure! Come on! Go, ninja, go — we’re ready to go!”