German hard rock legends SCORPIONS have been forced to cancel their performance Thursday night (November 8) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The band is in the middle of an Australian tour as the "very special guests" of DEF LEPPARD. SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine said in a statement: "We came a long way to finally rock Australia for the very first time (except for Melbourne ) together with our friends DEF LEPPARD. We have had a fantastic run so far, and it breaks my heart to let you know that I can't sing tonight at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. The doc has recommended that I rest my voice until Sydney and I cross my fingers that it all works out." The final show of SCORPIONS' Australian tour with DEF LEPPARD is scheduled to take place on Saturday (November 10) at the ICC Theatre in Sydney. Back in October 2017, SCORPIONS scrapped the remainder of their North American tour dates with MEGADETH after Meine was diagnosed with "severe laryngitis." Klaus was advised by a top throat specialist in Los Angeles to rest his voice or risk permanent vocal damage. Meine told the Phoenix New Times in a 2017 interview that the aging process has forced the SCORPIONS to scale down their touring activities — they no longer play three shows in a row or even attempt to perform some of the earlier songs in the original key. He said: "When you listen to songs from 'Blackout', like 'No One Like You', [or] 'Big City Nights', it's physically impossible [now] to do those songs in the original keys. You want to play those songs, but you want to survive 100 shows a year. So some of the songs we play in different keys, but the energy is still there. You're still at the top of your voice. Even now, you've got to go to the edge, but maybe the edge has moved a little bit." SCORPIONS are currently promoting "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", an essential anthology of the band's new and classic recordings, which was released in November 2017 via Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. SCORPIONS' previous release was 2015's "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.
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