Petit Biscuit cancels Australia and Indonesia tour dates due to mental health concerns

Petit Biscuit’s recent tour cancellation announcement highlights the mental health toll that comes with touring.

Petit Biscuit, a French-Moroccan producer, DJ, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Rouen, France, also known as Mehdi Benjelloun, announced through social media that he was canceling his upcoming tour dates across Australia and Indonesia due to his declining mental health and worsening panic attacks.

The announcement came just days before his tour was scheduled to begin on September 18. This would have been his first Australian headline tour in seven years.

In his statement, he wrote, “My mental health has been declining over the past few years. The highs are harder to enjoy, and the lows have become increasingly difficult to manage.” He also shared, “My body feels constantly on edge, in a way I never expected to feel.”

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The difficult decision for the 26-year-old came after talking it through with the people around him and realizing he needed to listen to what his mind and body were telling him.

Petit Biscuit’s decision brings attention to a side of touring that fans rarely see. Life on the road can appear glamorous from the outside, but the reality can include disrupted sleep, long travel days, a lack of familiar routines, and extended periods away from consistent support systems.

Research suggests these conditions can have meaningful mental health consequences. A study examining 1,154 international touring professionals found elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and burnout among participants who completed its psychosocial measures. Among the 508 participants who completed all of the measures, half met the study’s threshold indicating a high risk for clinical depression.

For artists, there can also be a complicated tension between feeling grateful for an extraordinarily successful career and struggling with some of the conditions that come with it. Artists can be grateful for the opportunity to make a living from their music while still recognizing when aspects of that career are negatively affecting their well-being.

Benjelloun addressed that conflict directly in his statement, writing, “I know how lucky I am to live off my music, and I don’t take that for granted, but the panic attacks haven’t stopped. If anything, they’ve gotten worse.”

Benjelloun apologized to fans, ticket holders, and the local partners involved in the canceled dates. He did not announce that he is stepping away from music or touring altogether. Instead, his statement specifically noted that long-haul touring is something he cannot take on “right now.”

Featured image courtesy of Thomas Aulagner

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Meredith Courtright

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