Michael Jackson tribute show rescheduled for Wembley in 2010

Posted on September 11th, 2009 by Mirror

Organisers of a planned Michael Jackson tribute gig in Vienna have pulled the plug on the show - and said it will be staged in London next year instead.

Despite holding announcements in London and Vienna this week to unveil the line-up for the show later this month, the Austrian event has now been axed.

It is the latest twist in the plans after efforts to stage an event at London 's 02 last month fell through. And within hours of the line-up being announced, key artists said they were unable to attend the show - which had been due to take place on September 26.

It is now expected to take place in June 2010.

Jackson died in June shortly before a string of 50 dates at the 02.

The tribute show had been lined up at a 17th century palace in Vienna . But acts such as Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown and Natalie Cole have subsequently found they were unable to attend.

Promoter Georg Kindel said today there had been difficulties with scheduling. "Maybe we underestimated these issues," he said.

Jackson's brother Jermaine said the event will be moved to Wembley Stadium next June, where it would be open to more than 70,000 fans.

He said: "As you can imagine staging a show of this monumental dimension in less than eight weeks is a daunting challenge. We have worked virtually around the clock to produce this show for the millions of fans around the world.

"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 honour 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.

"We have therefore decided, after careful consideration, to reschedule The Tribute concert for my brother to June 2010 and to stage this very special music event at Wembley Stadium in London . Here, 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.

"Instead of eight weeks we now have eight months to prepare and some of the stars who would not have been able to participate in the Vienna concert, but expressed their wish to participate in this event, will be able to perform live on stage at the renowned Wembley Stadium in London in June 2010."

Organisers said that ticket holders would receive a refund. They said "the stage concept of an imperial theatre for The Tribute for the Vienna show will be exactly the same for the Wembley event and a gigantic crown will be the centre of the stage".

Promoters said another reason for relocating the shows were the "bizarre" press reports in Austria about the event. Jermaine Jackson said he could not understand why the acts he had lined up were being ridiculed.

He said: "When artists who have won eight Grammy Awards and sold millions of records around the world and are able to sell out large stadiums are then called 'B-list artists', are made fun of and generally disrespected, is something I just cannot understand. If these artists are not welcome in Vienna , London is more than happy to have them."

Tickets for the new show will go on sale before the end of the year starting at £44.