No one, least of all Mick Jagger's fellow member in The Rolling Stones, had a problem with canceling a slew of Australian dates so that the vocalist could take time to mourn the death of his 13-year partner. The decision for such a huge act as the Stones to cancel the dates comes with a cost however. Billboard places an estimate at $10 million in losses.
Most of these costs come from deposits on venues, other prepaid rentals made in preparation for the tour, plus the potential cost of storing equipment until the dates can be made up. The band had reportedly hired 60 trucks for transporting its equipment around Australia, a $250,000 cost by itself.
The good news is that a band such as the Stones probably bought into an insurance policy to cover such an incident as this. These policies cover costs such as the venue deposits in circumstances "beyond control" of the band. These typically include sudden deaths of loved ones. Jagger had been dating designer L'Wren Scott for 13 years prior to her death, which should be more than enough to justify the cancellation of the tour. It's morbid, but this is how these things are handled.
Part of Billboard's estimates that went into the $10 million number was lost revenue from cancelled shows. The president of Frontier Touring, the Australian company running the Stones' "14 On Fire" tour, has already stated that the company is looking to reschedule the band's dates for October and November. Even if the band loses $10 million on the recent cancellations, it can easily make that up in the 14-show tour. The group played only 23 gigs in North America during 2013, which brought in $126 million. Consider it's been nearly 20 years since the band played Perth or Adelaide, and you can bet the band will bring in a haul from those shows.
So no sweat. Take your time before coming back Mick.
