American popular rock band Maroon 5 canceled their upcoming China tour on Thursday without offering the public and fans any reasonable explanation.

The already sold-out September tour was to be held in Beijing and Shanghai. However, organizers Live Nation announced the cancellation - saying there was "a reason" the anticipated event was curbed.

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Live Nation apologized to the public and especially to fans. The company has promised that tickets would quickly be refunded.

Several publications and disappointed fans have tried to connect the dots of what exactly led to the cancellation of the upcoming tour.

CNN reported that disappointed Maroon 5 fans, especially those on social media, think the Chinese government had a hand in the cancellation of the tour. They say the band was banned from performing in China after Jesse Carmichael, the band's keyboard player, sent a tweet wishing the Dalai Lama a happy birthday.

Carmichael was present at the celebration of the 80th birthday of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. The event, which was held on July 4^th (America's Independence Day), was attended by a host of celebrities.

In Carmichael's tweet, which is now deleted, he wrote "Happy Birthday America (and The Dalai Lama too) sang happy birthday to his holiness today."

Although the tweet has since been deleted, a cached version was saved and is still present online.

Despite the fact that the government has not released any statement regarding the show's cancellation, Beijing's edition of Time Out reported on Wednesday that "We hear musings about Maroon 5 being prevented from performing by our political friends up above."

The Guardian stressed that meeting the Dalai Lama "is all an artist needs to get a big X on their visa application."

Time Out cited Jams Blake and rock band Linkin Park as examples of artists who either met or showed support for the Dalai Lama and had their China tours canceled.

The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, has been living in exile since 1959 after a botched uprising against Beijing. As a result, the Communist Party views him as a "wolf in sheep's clothing" and a separatist trying to divide Tibet from China.

Beijing has in the past warned the U.S. and other governments to desist from supporting the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan independence movement.

British Prime Minster David Cameron was punished with lengthy diplomatic freezes after he met with the Dalai Lama, according to the Guardian.

China foreign ministry also warned the U.S. of disrupted bilateral relations after senior White house adviser Valerie Jarrett attended a Dalai Lama birthday celebration last week in New York.

"We urge the U.S. side to stop providing any convenience and support to the 'Tibet independence' forces lest China-U.S. relations be disrupted and jeopardized," spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

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