Beloved 1980s pop group the Motels have been forced to cancel the remaining dates on their 2024 U.S. tour after singer Martha Davis revealed that she is in the midst of a second battle against breast cancer. In a statement released on Tuesday (Oct. 8), the 73-year-old vocalist said that a pair of planned November dates in California on Nov. 8 and 9 — the former part of the throwback Rad Music Fest alongside A Flock of Seagulls and The Tubes, the latter tied to the Totally 80s Fest with Bow Wow Wow and Gene Loves Jezebel — have been called off after she lost her voice due to radiation treatments.
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“I just canceled our remaining shows of the year… I think it’s time i come clean with you lovelies that have purchased tickets for upcoming shows…aside from badly breaking my wrist on September 9, I’m also in the mopup stages of a two year breast cancer thingie,” Davis said in a statement. “Had the estrogen blocker, the lumpectomy and now radiation. The radiation has caused me to lose my voice…so no guitar, no voice…no shows… I’m doing well and will be delighted when all this is over…last radiation is on the 23rd…yay!”
Davis continued, “In the last two months the universe has been playing dodgeball with me while my feet are velcroed to the ground. Started writing a new song… ‘I’m starring in my own sh–show!’ I love and miss you all so much, and I can’t wait to get back at it!” At press time, the band still had shows booked from January-April 2025 in California and Oregon.
Berkeley, CA-bred Davis started her career in 1971 fronting the Warfield Foxes, who transformed into The Motels in 1975. The new wave band’s self-titled Capitol Records debut came out in 1979, followed by Careful in 1980. They broke through in 1982 thanks to a wistful ballad from their third album “Only the Lonely,” which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by another moody midtempo hit, “Suddenly Last Summer” from 1983’s Little Robbers album; it also peaked at No. 9 on the Hot 100.
Davis first battled breast cancer in 1983-84 at the height of the MTV-favorite group’s success. The singer has released more than half a dozen solo albums since 1987 and the Motels’ most recent studio effort was 2018’s The Last Few Beautiful Days.
