SOUTH LOOP — Chief Keef’s highly anticipated homecoming concert was cancelled abruptly Saturday and rescheduled for a later date due to travel delays, according to the rapper and the concert venue.

The Chicago-born rapper’s show at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island Saturday night was right before its start time. It has been rescheduled to Sept. 23.

In a post on Instagram, Chief Keef said his team or the city of Chicago was not to blame. He instead cited a “pilot who got very racist at the clear port” as the issue that caused the travel delays.

“The pilot decided to cancel my plane,” Chief Keef said. “Which had us scattering to find new jets. And by the time we found an option it would be too late to land and do a full show.”

Saturday’s show was set to be Chief Keef’s first headlining performance in Chicago proper in over a decade. Fans who traveled from as far as Toronto and St. Louis to see the rapper perform in his hometown were met with disappointment.

Cris and Fabian flew from Toronto to Chicago a day early to make sure they wouldn’t miss the show. For Cris, the trip was supposed to mark his first time seeing Chief Keef perform live.

“Keef was my GOAT in high school, and I was going to get to see him perform in his hometown,” Cris said, using an acronym for “greatest of all time.”

Chief Keef fans pose beneath a sign announcing the postponement of his concert at Huntington Bank Pavilion on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. Credit: Kenn Cook Jr./Block Club Chicago

Wendy Villegas, her brother Mario Villegas and their friend Briana Avila stand outside Huntington Bank Pavilion after Chief Keef’s concert was postponed Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. The trio drove five hours from St. Louis to Chicago for the show. Credit: Kenn Cook Jr./Block Club Chicago

Wendy Villegas, her brother Mario Villegas and their friend Briana Avila made a similar pilgrimage, driving five hours from St. Louis for the concert only to discover it had been postponed when they arrived.

The concert was set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, but an email announcing the postponement went out at 7:14 p.m. without initially providing a reason or a new date. Some concertgoers didn’t learn the show was off until they arrived at the venue, where signs announcing the postponement were posted and security guards blocked the entrances.

“I’m sincerely sorry this happened trust me,” Chief Keef wrote on Instagram. “But we back on for the 23rd mark my words.”

Chief Keef, a native of Washington Park, last performed a solo set in Chicago at Lollapalooza in 2012 at the age of 16. He made a cameo at Kanye West’s concert at Soldier Field last weekend.

The rapper, whose real name is Keith Cozart, was essentially blacklisted from performing locally as he was engulfed in legal trouble and a longstanding battle with former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who in 2015 called the rapper an “unacceptable role model” whose music “promotes violence.”

In 2015, Chief Keef held his infamous show in Hammond, Indiana, where he appeared via hologram. The performance only lasted one song before being shut down by Hammond police because of warnings from the mayor’s office that the show posed a public safety risk, the Tribune reported at the time.

Chief Keef, who left Chicago to live in Los Angeles in 2014, finally made his return to a local stage when he headlined Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival in suburban Bridgeview in June 2024. He also headlined the festival in June.

Saturday’s Chicago show was the first night of his nationwide tour behind the rapper’s latest mixtape, “Skeletor.” He is schedule to perform Sunday in Minneapolis.

______________________________________________________________________

Support Local News!

Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: