The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney Says ‘We Got ‘F—ed’ After Tour Cancellation, Management Split

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The Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney hinted that there’s more to the band’s tour downgrade and management split with Irving Azoff — ‘Stay tuned.’An explanation for the Black Keys’ recent stroke of bad luck may be forthcoming, according to drummer Patrick Carney. In a post on the former Twitter, Carney wrote a short cryptic message: “We got f—ed. I’ll let you all know how so it doesn’t happen to you. Stay tuned.”

The rock duo announced last month it was cancelling its planned arena tour in favor of more intimate venues, though the dates for the retooled shows have yet to be announced. But last week, the band revealed having split with its management team led by legendary exec Irving Azoff, with whom they had been involved since 2021. That news was then confirmed by Azoff, who called it an “amicable parting.”

Irving Azoff, best known as the manager of the Eagles, was also the former CEO of Ticketmaster and former chairman of its parent company, Live Nation. Notably, another “Azoff-connected group,” Oak View Group, has been implicated in the US Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against the two companies, though Azoff is no longer listed as an executive there and is not named in the lawsuit.According to the Justice Department’s complaint, Oak View Group, a live entertainment advisory firm, was named as having a relationship with Live Nation that “unduly influenced the market.”

Lawsuit aside, Irving Azoff himself has developed a reputation for his “bare-knuckle tactics” in negotiating. At their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Eagles’ Don Henley said of Azoff, “He may be Satan, but he’s our Satan.”

Similarly, Azoff has managed artists like Fleetwood Mac, Journey, Bon Jovi, and Steely Dan. Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker once told The LA Times the band hired Azoff because he impressed them “with his taste for the jugular… and his bizarre spirit.”