Jay-Z Pulls out of Woodstock 50

John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival has done the same

By Savannah Sicurella  |  July 26, 2019 | 3:35pm
Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty
Music News Woodstock 50
Jay-Z Pulls out of Woodstock 50

Woodstock 50 is the never-ending, infernal gift that keeps on giving: Just one day after it was reported the ill-fated behemoth had finally secured a location, headliner Jay-Z has announced he will no longer perform at the 50th anniversary Woodstock festival in August.

An anonymous source told The Associated Press the musician will no longer close the three-day festival scheduled for Aug. 16-18.

Jay-Z’s departure from the event is another bump in the road to the troubled event, which has experienced a handful of setbacks since its conception at the start of 2019.

We’ll give you the abridged version of the festival’s behind-the-scenes chaos: Shortly after festival organizers confirmed a lineup for the swiftly organized event and missed the deadline to begin selling tickets, Billboard reported that a chief investor abruptly canceled the event, citing concerns about site readiness and the capacity of the venue-space.

Despite the report, festival organizers came forward to announce the event was still being held and they were seeking legal remedy to determine whether an investor had the sole power to cancel the event. To their advantage, a state Supreme Court judge determined that the ex-investor doesn’t have the authority to do so, leaving the festival’s remaining investors in financial disarray.

The fun doesn’t end there, however: In early June, it was announced the festival organizers failed to meet a payment for the original venue space and the event would no longer be held there. Organizers experienced another venue-space blunder in early July before Bloomberg reported organizers were in the process of relocating the concert to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., Thursday afternoon.

Well—the truth of the matter is that the venue still doesn’t have a definitive venue space, nor does it have tickets on sale, so maybe Jay-Z has the right idea to pull out before the going gets even tougher. The AP also reports Creedence Clearwater Revival founder John Fogerty, who performed at the original 1969 festival, has pulled out of the event as well, so at least the rapper is in good company.

The two musicians, however, aren’t even the first to pull out of the festival: Prior to any of the festival’s summer blunders, The Black Keys canceled their slot at the event, citing scheduling conflicts.

Other headliners slated to perform at the festival are The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Santana, Chance the Rapper and Cage the Elephant, among others.

Cross your fingers Woodstock 50 won’t end up in hot shock-horror documentary territory, a la a certain Festival of Fyre.

 
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