LOS ANGELES, July 4 — Lollapalooza Colombia has been forced to cancel its inaugural music festival, after a key headliner — rumoured to be Rihanna — dropped out unexpectedly.

Apologising to ticket holders, who are being offered a refund following the news, festival organisers posted the following statement in Spanish on the music festival’s website: "The organisers wish to express their deep appreciation to all the fans who supposed the festival since day one, as well as the sponsors and the media partners. We hope to return in the future to realise this first edition of Lollapalooza in the country.”

While Lollapalooza has not specified which major act pulled out, without enough time for the event to find a replacement, local sources have speculated it is superstar Rihanna who cancelled her performance, due to concerns about the Zika virus.

While Rihanna has not yet officially cancelled her performance, Variety reports that her reps did not immediately respond to the outlet’s request for comment yesterday.

Lollapalooza 2016, which was to take place September 17-18 in Bogota for the first time, was also set to feature Disclosure, Lana Del Rey and Wiz Khalifa as part of its line-up this year. — AFP-Relaxnews