News

Michael Jackson Tribute Concert Cancelled

• 12th Sep 2009

Chaos continues to surround the Michael Jackson tribute concert scheduled to take place in Vienna in two weeks, as organizers today cancelled the event. Instead it will take place at Wembley Stadium, London in June 2010, to mark the first anniversary of Jackson's death.

When tickets for The Tribute originally went on sale in August, there were rumours that the likes of Madonna and U2 would headline the event. Earlier this week Michael’s brother Jermaine, the instigator behind organizing the concert, announced that Mary J Blige, Natalie Cole and Chris Brown would perform. The very next day doubts were cast over this claim.
Brown, who is on probation for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, pop star Rihanna, would have required court approval to leave the US, however a Los Angeles court spokeswoman said he had not applied for permission. It also unfolded that Blige had never agreed to appear as she had a previous commitment to attend a Gucci fashion show in Milan. Natalie Cole’s representative then revealed that the Grammy Award-winner would be performing at an event for the Dalai Lama in Tennessee the weekend of The Tribute.

Jermaine Jackson blamed time restraints, hectic schedules and difficult logistics on the cancellation of The Tribute. “A little more than five weeks ago I began, together with my partners in Vienna, to work on the Tribute Concert. As you can imagine staging a show of this monumental dimension in less than eight weeks is a daunting challenge,” he said.
“I personally have spoken to many international artists and invited them to attend The Tribute and perform one of Michael’s songs. Several leading artists immediately agreed to participate in this unique tribute show. Many others told me personally that it would be a great honor to be part of this memorial concert for my late brother – an artist who influenced the music world like virtually no other. However, due to the short time frame involved it just was not possible for many of them to change their schedule so that they could be on stage in Vienna on September 26th.”

Jermaine said relocating the event would also allow more fans to experience the spectacle. “Over 70,000 fans will have the opportunity to experience the life and music of my beloved late brother. We will hold the concert in the city that he himself chose for his comeback concerts but, due to his tragic death, he was not able to do.” He said that having eight months, rather than eight weeks to make preparations would guarantee a top quality concert, fitting for the King of Pop. Jackson also blamed a lack of support in Austria, particularly from the press. “The artists were disrespectfully treated as B-list artists by the media,” he said.

Rumours were also circulating that the concert was in jeopardy due to a lack of support from Jermaine’s parents and siblings. Sister Janet will perform her own tribute to Michael at the MTV Video Music Awards this weekend. Jermaine gained support for The Tribute from his mother Katherine. She recorded a video endorsing the event, stating: “I’m looking forward to being there on the 29th to see the show”. Bizarrely the concert was in fact scheduled for September 26th.

Tickets for The Tribute in Vienna were on sale for up to €518, a full refund will be given to those who already purchased tickets. The London event will go on sale before the end of the year and tickets will be priced from £44.

The unfolding of events and publicity surrounding The Tribute has had many scratching their heads. It’s a comedy of errors, less Shakespeare, and more slightly reminiscent of the Tenacious D song `Tribute’. Indeed as it turned out it was certainly not the greatest concert in the world, heck it wasn’t even a tribute. But perhaps it will be. I’m sure we’re all hoping Jermaine is able to pull The Tribute together so that we can “Look into his eyes and it's easy to see. One and one make two, two and one make three. It was destiny”. Currently, with all the chaos and confusion overshadowing this concert, nothing much is adding up. At the event’s press conference at Kensington Palace earlier this week, media were handed out glasses of Moet champagne, not altogether unacceptable, but slightly unnerving given that it was 10 in the morning.

For the sake of the millions of fans worldwide let’s remain optimistic that The Tribute will attract an all-star cast of incredible singers and performers. Over the next eight months excitement, anticipation and expectation will build. Whatever your personal views of Michael Jackson the person, his musical legacy is unquestionable. Let’s hope a worthy tribute is paid to the King of Pop and may he rest in peace.