Post Malone scraps Australian tour leaving major festival without headline act - just days after American hip-hop star announced his engagement

Post Malone had fans thrilled when he announced that he is set to tour Australia and New Zealand later this year.

But the American hip-hop star has called off the tour, and dropped out of a major festival in the process. 

Malone is no longer on the line-up for the Strummingbird festival, a country music event with dates in Newcastle, Ballarat and the Sunshine Coast in 2026.

The 31-year-old is understood to have scrapped all of his Aussie dates, with his one New Zealand date also unlikely to go ahead. 

While the tour is said to be postponed, rather than cancelled, no new dates have been announced. 

Malone was due in Australia in October for what was to be his first performances Down Under in three years.

The chart-topping singer was to bring his cheekily named BIG ASS World Tour to Australia and New Zealand, performing seven shows across capital cities and regional centres, in what would have been his biggest ever tour of the country.

The announcement comes after Malone revealed he was pushing back his wider tour schedule as he worked to finish new music. 

In a statement shared to his Instagram Stories earlier this year, he admitted the timing wasn't quite right.

Malone's Down Under leg was set to kick off in Melbourne on October 9 before moving through Ballarat, Brisbane, Sydney, Newcastle and the Sunshine Coast, with a final stop in Auckland.

The inclusion of regional dates in Ballarat and Newcastle marked a broader reach for the global superstar, alongside his usual stadium stops in major capitals. 

Tickets for the tour went on sale on May 26. It's unclear what plans have been made to refund ticket holders.  

Malone has spent more than a decade dominating global charts with smash hits including Sunflower, Rockstar and Circles, while successfully reinventing himself as one of modern country's most talked-about crossover stars.

The hitmaker clearly had a ball on his last Australian tour, and even took part in hair-raising local customs. 

During his November 2023 Australian tour, Malone performed not just one, but several 'shoeys' at the inaugural concert.

There has been good news in Post's private life, after he proposed to his on-off girlfriend Christy Lee earlier this month, 14 months after the pair split.

The Grammy-winning rapper, real name Austin Post, got down on one knee with a huge diamond ring.

Their close friends announced their engagement on social media, sharing plenty of photos of the newly engaged couple kissing and hugging.

Post had split from the stylist last year after several months of dating but they were seen together again at the Khaite fashion show in February this year.

And it appears their reunion has now been taken to the next level with a wedding on the horizon.