Canadian rock star Bryan Adams apologized on Tuesday for his...

Canadian rock star Bryan Adams apologized on Tuesday for his social media rant against wet markets on Monday. Credit: AP / Sean Kilpatrick

Canadian rocker Bryan Adams apologized Tuesday for a diatribe the previous day supporting the unproven theory that a Chinese live-animal "wet market" is the source of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Apologies to any and all that took offence to my posting yesterday," the Grammy Award-winning Canadian recording artist, 60, wrote on Instagram. "No excuse, I just wanted to have a rant about the horrible animal cruelty in these wet-markets being the possible source of the virus, and promote veganism. I have love for all people and my thoughts are with everyone dealing with this pandemic around the world."

In that earlier Instagram post and a since-deleted tweet, Adams had vented, "Tonight was supposed to be the beginning of a tenancy of gigs at the @royalalberthall [in London], but thanks to some ... [expletive] bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy ... [expletive]s, the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus."

Scientists have traced this particular coronavirus, formally named SARS-CoV-2, to bats, which may have transmitted it to humans either directly or through an intermediate host. The source of that transmission remains unclear, and no definitive evidence links the Wuhan, China, wet market near the first recorded cases as the source of the outbreak.

Regardless, continued Adams, "My message to them other than 'thanks a ... [expletive] lot' is go vegan. To all the people missing out on our shows, I wish I could be there more than you know. It's been great hanging out in isolation with my children and family, but I miss my other family, my band, my crew and my fans. Take care of yourselves and [I] hope we can get the show on the road again soon. I'll be performing a snippet from each album we were supposed to perform for the next few days."

Adams is not the sole musician to link the Wuhan live-animal market to the source of the virus. In April, Paul McCartney told Howard Stern on the shock jock's SiriusXM radio show, "It wouldn't be so bad if this is the only thing it seems like you can blame on those wet markets. It seems like SARS, avian flu, all sorts of other stuff that has afflicted us … and what's it for? For these quite medieval practices."

Adams — whose July 27-28 dates opening for Bon Jovi at Madison Square Garden also were canceled — has rescheduled his May 12-13 Royal Albert Hall shows to April 2021.

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