C opeland Forbes, who has worked as a booking agent and tour manager for over 40 years, believes the reggae music industry will take a massive hit from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

According to Forbes, the shutdown of the tour circuit is a body blow to artistes who earn their living from live shows, especially in Europe which has become reggae’s breadbasket in the last 20 years.

“The music industry is going to feel it. It’s going to take a year before things get back to normal,” Forbes warned.

Top touring acts like Alborosie, The Wailers, Stephen Marley, Kenyatta Hill, Kabaka Pyramid, and Protoje have cancelled tours of the United States and Europe where the coronavirus has caused thousands of deaths.

While major events, such as Summer Jam in Germany and Rototom Sunsplash in Spain, have yet to officially announce whether they will cancel or postpone, smaller festivals in Germany, Spain, and Italy have shelved their shows for this year.

They include the July 24-26 Reggae In Wulf Festival in Friedburg, Germany, which was scheduled to have Tarrus Riley, Morgan Heritage, Jah9, and Dre Island as headliners.

In the United States, major gigs such as the California Roots Festival in Monterey, California have rescheduled from May to October. That event has a number of Jamaican artistes in its line-up including Damian Marley, Chronixx, and Sean Paul.

Forbes says the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak will be even more devastating than the impact of 9/11 when Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked sections of the US including the World Trade Center in New York City.

“With 9/11, not many shows were cancelled. In fact, some of the worst experiences were with the Rasta artistes. I remember immigration people giving Junior Kelly a warm time in Miami and New York; they wanted him to take off his [head] wrap, same thing with Pablo Moses in Brazil,” Forbes recalled.

9/11 attacks claimed 2,996 lives, while the coronavirus, as of yesterday, had a global toll of 125,344 with nearly 2,000,000 people testing positive.