Reg­gae fans in To­ba­go will have to wait a lit­tle longer to see Bu­ju Ban­ton live. The artiste has an­nounced that he will no longer be per­form­ing at the To­ba­go Rhythm and Soul Fes­ti­val due to a crit­i­cal health emer­gency in­volv­ing a close friend.

To­ba­go Fes­ti­vals Com­mis­sion CEO Kern Cow­an made the an­nounce­ment Wednes­day af­ter­noon dur­ing a press con­fer­ence.

In a heart­felt vir­tu­al mes­sage to his sup­port­ers, Bu­ju apol­o­gised, thanked fans for their un­der­stand­ing, and promised to re­turn soon.

Cow­an said re­funds will be is­sued but promised a grand show with the new ma­jor act.

Cow­an said, “This is not a can­cel­la­tion, this is just more to come be­cause he is go­ing to come... With the news, we had cause to act fast.”

Cow­an said that in Bu­ju’s place, Gram­my-win­ning reg­gae star Stephen Mar­ley will take the stage, en­sur­ing the night re­mains filled with soul-stir­ring mu­sic and pow­er­ful per­for­mances.

He added that this change has not af­fect­ed the fes­ti­val’s bud­get. The event will run from April 17-20.