Lollapalooza Colombia Canceled After Rihanna Pulls Out Over Zika Virus Concerns

Lollapalooza Colombia organizers have pulled the plug on the festival after their headliner, Rihanna, cancelled her appearance over Zika virus concerns.

This would have been the festivals first installment in Bogota, Columbia scheduled to take place September 17-18. Lollapalooza organizers say they don’t have much time to find a replacement headliner so they are offering ticket buyers their money back.

Lollapalooza Columbia was also slated to feature performances from Wiz Khalifa, Lana Del Rey, Disclosure and Anderson .Paak among others.

As South America remains in the midst of Zika worries, many American athletes have also declined to travel to the area for the 2016 Summer Olympics taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The world’s top golfer Jason Day withdrew from the event along with fellow golfers Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Vijay Singh.

American cyclist Tejay van Garderen was the first to withdraw his name from Olympic consideration. The cyclist cited concerns about the potential effects the virus could have on his pregnant wife.

One person who is being fearless during this time is number one tennis player and four time gold Olympic medalist Serena Williams, who thinks it’s “sad” that many athletes are skipping out of this year’s Games.

“It’s probably one thing I have that I love the most,” she says. “For me, I look at the Olympics as a bonus opportunity.”

In January, the World Health Organization declared Zika a “global health emergency.” They admit vaccine trials are a year behind and advise pregnant women and women who plan on getting pregnant to delay traveling to affected countries.

The mosquito-borne virus has been linked to severe birth defects and has the possibility to cause neurological problems in adults.