Music festivals

December 03, 2018 - 6:11 am

Muggings Mar International Charity Concert In South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A spate of muggings early Monday marred a charity concert in South Africa at which Beyonce, Jay-Z and other stars performed in honor of Nelson Mandela. Tens of thousands flocked to the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday for a music festival also featuring Usher, Pharrell...
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FILE - In this March 6, 2018 file photo, Billy McFarland, the promoter of the failed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, leaves federal court after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges in New York. A federal judge has given McFarland a six-year prison term. McFarland was sentenced Thursday, Oct. 11 in Manhattan federal court. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald called him a “serial fraudster.” (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
October 11, 2018 - 11:44 am

Promoter Of Failed Fyre Festival Gets 6 Years In Prison

NEW YORK (AP) — The creator of the Fyre Festival, a highly publicized and famously failed music bash in the Bahamas, was ordered Thursday to spend six years in prison by a judge who called him a "serial fraudster." Billy McFarland, 26, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. He had...
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September 24, 2018 - 4:13 pm

Lawyer: Mental Illness Led To Fyre Festival Promoter's Crime

NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer says mental illness caused the promoter of a failed music festival to rip off investors and commit other crimes. Attorney Randall Jackson urged a Manhattan judge Friday to be lenient at Billy McFarland's October sentencing. McFarland pleaded guilty earlier this year to...
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FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2018 file photo, Lana Del Rey arrives at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York. Del Rey has canceled her planned performance at an Israeli music festival after pressure from Palestinian boycott activists. In a Twitter message late Friday, Aug. 31, Del Rey says she is delaying "until a time when I can schedule visits for both my Israeli and Palestinian fans." It wasn’t clear whether it was a direct response to the BDS movement’s boycott call. Still, it marked a setback for Israel, which aims to prevent politics from infiltrating the arts. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
September 01, 2018 - 5:18 am

Lana Del Rey Nixes Israel Concert After Palestinian Pressure

JERUSALEM (AP) — Singer Lana Del Rey has canceled her planned performance at an Israeli music festival after pressure from Palestinian boycott activists. In a Twitter message late Friday, Del Rey says she is delaying "until a time when I can schedule visits for both my Israeli and Palestinian fans...
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This combination photo shows Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney at City Hall in Philadelphia, on Dec. 18, 2017, left, and rapper Jay Z at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Feb. 22, 2015. Kenney tweeted a photo of himself with Jay-Z before a show at the Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night where Jay-Z and wife Beyonce were in town for the “On The Run II” tour. Earlier this month, the city announced that Jay-Z’s music festival would have to move off the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 2019. Jay-Z accused the mayor of showing "zero appreciation" for what the festival had done for Philadelphia. (AP Photo)
July 31, 2018 - 9:08 am

Made Up In America? Philly Mayor Tweets Photo With Jay-Z

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The mayor of Philadelphia and Jay-Z have apparently made up after the Made In America Festival controversy earlier this month. Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted a photo of himself with Jay-Z before the rap mogul's show at the Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night. Jay-Z and wife...
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July 31, 2018 - 7:51 am

Correction: Music Festival Deal Story

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — In a story July 28 about a deal to keep two renowned music festivals in Newport, The Associated Press erroneously reported when the first festival was held. The Newport Jazz Festival began in 1954, and the Newport Folk Festival began in 1959; the two did not begin in 1969. The...
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July 28, 2018 - 11:30 am

Ex-Pastor Sentenced To 18 Years In Child Sex Abuse Case

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. (AP) — A former New Jersey pastor who co-founded a Christian music festival has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in a child sex abuse case. Seventy-five-year-old Harry Thomas is the former pastor of Come Alive New Testament Church in Medford and co-founder of the Creation...
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Imagine Dragons
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July 27, 2018 - 1:05 pm

Imagine Dragons Headed To Festival For LGBT Youth

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook is among those headed to Salt Lake City for a music festival organized by Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds to support LGBT youth in the Mormon church. Reynolds says in a statement the appearance of the proudly gay CEO at the Saturday LoveLoud concert...
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July 26, 2018 - 9:51 am

Promoter Of Failed Event Pleads Guilty To New Fraud Charges

NEW YORK (AP) — The promoter of a failed music festival has pleaded guilty to charges that could result in a prison sentence of over a decade. The plea entered Thursday by Billy McFarland came after prosecutors brought new charges alleging he was selling fraudulent tickets to fashion, music and...
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July 25, 2018 - 9:14 am

Musicians Slam Austrian Festival Over Sex Abuse Claims

BERLIN (AP) — Five female musicians accuse organizers of an Austrian classical music festival of not acting on sexual abuse complaints they made for years against its artistic director, according to an open letter published Wednesday. The artists alleged that Austrian conductor Gustav Kuhn...
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