Yusuf Cat Stevens Scraps New York City Tour Date Due to Ticket Scalpers: 'Wild World' Singer to Play Philadelphia Dec. 4

Stevens addressed his fans in a not on his official website, stating that New York state's laws requiring physical tickets to events allowed for scalpers to scoop up pre-sale tickets and re-sell them to fans for "extortionate" prices.

"Unfortunately I will not be performing in NYC this time around but I am looking forward to playing for fans in Philadelphia on Dec. 4 and hope to return to NYC at a future date," Stevens wrote. "My fans will understand and I thank them for informing me about the extortionate tickets prices already being listed on some websites. I have been a longtime supporter of paperless tickets to my shows worldwide and avoiding scalpers.

"Unfortunately NY has a state law that requires all tickets sold for shows in NYC to be paper, enabling them to be bought and sold at inflated prices. I'm sorry about not being able to now play in NYC but hope to find an opportunity that aligns with my support of this issue in the near future, God willing. Looks like the Peace Train is going to arrive at New York a little bit later than expected."

AOL.com cited ticket resales as high as $11,000 for the New York Stevens show. Face value for those tickets was $190.

Stevens was due to play NYC's Beacon Theatre. He will instead perform at Philadelphia's Tower Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 4.

See Stevens' full tour schedule below:

12/01: Toronto @ Massey Hall
12/04: Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theatre
12/07: Boston, MA @ Citi Performing Arts Center, Wang Theatre
12/09: Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre
12/12: San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
12/14: Los Angeles, CA @ Nokia Theatre

The tour will be in support of Stevens' forthcoming album Tell 'Em I'm Gone, due out Oct. 27.

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