Aplin was in the midst of the tour when Covid-19 broke out in the UK. She posted on 13th March with a statement that read “I’m so sorry to do this but my team and I have made the difficult decision to reschedule the remaining dates of my UK tour,” and went on to explain “I personally feel it would be irresponsible of me to bring crowds together at this time.”

View this post on Instagram

* UK TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT* Hey everyone. Im so sorry to do this but my team and I have made the difficult decision to reschedule the remaining dates of my UK tour. This is the last thing I want to do and I haven’t taken this decision lightly. I personally feel it would be irresponsible of me to bring crowds together at this time. The health of my band and crew, and my fans is my number 1 priority, along with my own health concerns for myself and my family. I was loving this tour and I promise that the rescheduled dates will be amazing. All tickets purchased will remain valid for the rescheduled shows. Again, I am really sorry to do this. I just feel that it is the right decision at this time. I thank all my promoters, reps, venues and staff 13 Artists and my own band and crew for being so understanding at a time really difficult and uncertain for all of you. Please look after yourself and stay safe! Gabrielle xxx

A post shared by Gabrielle Aplin (@gabrielleaplin) on Mar 13, 2020 at 6:27am PDT

The singer-songwriter has already arranged dates for later in the year, and all tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled shows. She ended her announcement by asking fans to “stay safe”. Some fans were upset at the short notice cancellation of shows, but were ultimately understanding given the circumstances.

There has been no information regarding refunds should ticket-holders want them, but it is likely that they would need to get in touch with the company they purchased from. Many fans have also asked if they can still buy merchandise despite the cancellation of the original dates. Aplin expressed her gratitudes on Instagram, saying “this fills me with joy as we put so much effort into making sure this merch was human and earth friendly!”

View this post on Instagram

I have some left over merch from tour and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it as some of the tee’s have the now not happening dates on the back! Some of you kindly reached out asking if you can buy them to stop them going to waste. This fills me with joy as we put so much effort into making sure this merch was human and earth friendly! If you’d like one, you can pre-order now & they will be sent out on March 23rd. Thank you! (link in my stories)

A post shared by Gabrielle Aplin (@gabrielleaplin) on Mar 18, 2020 at 6:45am PDT

Although she cannot perform live, Aplin took part in Lewis Watson’s online festival along with other artists including Dodie, Nina Nesbitt, and Orla Gartland. She has also released stripped back versions of songs from her latest album ‘Dear Happy’. So far, reworked versions of both ‘Strange’ and ‘My Mistake’ have been released, as well as the live versions of more songs on YouTube.

Aplin began her career posting cover videos on YouTube, but her popularity truly took off in 2012 when she recorded the John Lewis Christmas advert, covering ‘The Power of Love’ originally by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Her album ‘Dear Happy’ came out in January 2020 and was named Radio 2’s ‘Album of the Week’, also reaching number 24 on the UK Albums Chart.

At the time of writing, the ‘Dear Happy’ European tour dates are still in place, but it is highly likely that they will be cancelled imminently, as they are planned to take place in April. The new dates for the UK are available now and can be found below. Tickets can be purchased from the official website.

11/10/2020 – Y Plas – Cardiff, UK
13/10 – Rock City – Nottingham, UK
14/10 – SWX – Bristol, UK
15/10 – Concorde 2 – Brighton, UK
16/10 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – London, UK

The t-shirt reads, “One T-shirt is the equivalent to 5000 streams on Spotify. 76% of all music in 2019 is streamed and not bought physically or digitally. Band merchandise is the most direct way of supporting an artist.”

The group have made it very clear that this is not a campaign against streaming services, but an attempt to bring to light the effects of these services if people rely solely on them as a way of supporting musicians.

Formed in 2006, the metalcore punk band have released four studio albums, with their most recent, ‘So What?’ in March of this year. The album has been received well on the whole, with positive reviews from Kerrang and Louder Sound, describing it as “more alternative, electronic”. It is clear that the group have taken a different angle in their production with this release than their previous work, “there are plenty of riff heavy body slams, but this is a shinier, polished and melodic finish.” As with most long time rock bands that decide to go down this route, of course the record has face some backlash. Max Morin called it “a transparent attempt at marketability than genuine musical vision.”

On twitter, WSS explained the reasons behind why they have launched this t-shirt and why it is important for this message to be shared further than just their own fanbase. “If bands and artists are to survive and win the battle of art vs money, we need to find new income to keep afloat…this t-shirt isn’t just for our band, it’s for all bands and we want it to become a staple in the positive change needed in the music industry.”

This is about how you can support the music you love.
Not just our band and our music – this is aimed at every working band trying to make music and get it out there. We are launching a free-to-use design to highlight the realities of being a band today.https://t.co/84LyW9LCyZ pic.twitter.com/HEB082D6JX

— WHILE SHE SLEEPS (@whileshesleeps) August 7, 2019

In addition, the 5-piece metal core band have made this t-shirt design available to use for free, so that the message can be heard in further realms of the industry and in popular culture as a whole.