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Woodstock 50 in Jeopardy After Investor Pulls Out

A financial investor in the highly-anticipated Woodstock 50 festival said in a statement Monday it had "decided to cancel" the event, but the organizers say rumors of a cancellation are false. Jummy Olabanji reports.

(Published Monday, April 29, 2019)

Jay-Z's got 99 problems but Woodstock isn't one: The rap king has pulled out of the 50th anniversary Woodstock festival just weeks before the troubled event is supposed to take place.

A person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to discuss the plans publicly, told The Associated Press on Friday that Jay-Z will no longer close the three-day festival scheduled for Aug. 16-18.

The news comes on thesame day that John Fogerty, who performed at the original 1969 festival with Creedence Clearwater Revival, pulled out of the anniversary event.

Woodstock 50 has faced a series of setbacks in the last few months, including permit denials and the loss of a financial partner and a production company. The event doesn't have a venue and tickets have yet to go on sale.

With Fogerty and rapper-actor Common by his side, Michael Lang - the original festival's co-founder - announced in March that Jay-Z, Dead & Company, the Killers, Miley Cyrus, Imagine Dragons and Chance the Rapper would perform at Woodstock 50. The festivities were supposed to take place across three main stages at Watkins Glen International racetrack in Watkins Glen, New York, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northwest of