Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Jay-Z, Dead & Co., the Killers to Perform at Woodstock 50
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
March 20, 2019

Share

NEW YORK — Jay-Z, Dead & Company, and the Killers will headline one of the 50th anniversary shows commemorating the groundbreaking Woodstock festival this summer.

“It’s kind of spooky how similar things are. How some of the things that we thought we’d gone past in the last 50 years — the racial divides, care for the environment and women’s rights — now we have Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement and climate deniers and another (expletive) in the White House.” — Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang

Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang announced Tuesday that Miley Cyrus, Santana, Imagine Dragons, Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters, the Black Keys, and Chance the Rapper will also perform at the Woodstock 50 Music and Arts Fair, which will take place Aug. 16-18 in Watkins Glen, New York, about 115 miles northwest of the original site. The event is separate from an anniversary concert planned at the site of the original festival in 1969.

Tickets for the three-day festival pushing the message of peace, love, and music go on sale April 22, which is Earth Day.

Lang said though Woodstock took place 50 years ago, today’s world and 1969 are somewhat parallel.

“It’s kind of spooky how similar things are. How some of the things that we thought we’d gone past in the last 50 years — the racial divides, care for the environment and women’s rights — now we have Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement and climate deniers and another (expletive) in the White House,” Lang said. “So, it’s very similar.”

Lang made the announcement at a press conference at Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York City alongside Common and John Fogerty, who performed at the original Woodstock. Both Fogerty and Common will perform this summer.

More Than 400,000 People Attended Woodstock in 1969

Fogerty, 73, recalled performing his set in 1969 after the Grateful Dead hit the stage. He said he took the stage after midnight and half of the audience was asleep.

“I was frustrated and I said something like, ‘We hope you’re having a good time out there. We’re playing our hearts out for ya up here.’ And I don’t really see much moving. I see a light, somebody’s lighter goes on in the darkness and somebody out there says, ‘Don’t worry about it John, we’re with ya!’ So I played the whole rest of my complete Woodstock concert for that guy,” he said.

“To be able to be connected to Woodstock in any shape, form or fashion for me is one of the greatest honors I’ve had as an artist, as human being (and) as a musician.” Common, hip-hop artist

More than 80 artists, including David Crosby, Janelle Monae, Brandi Carlile, Country Joe McDonald, Halsey, the Lumineers, Portugal the Man, and India are expected to perform on three main stages at Watkins Glen International racetrack in the Finger Lakes for Woodstock 50. The original concert was held on a farm in Bethel, New York that is now run as an attraction by The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. The venue plans its own anniversary event Aug. 16-18.

Common, 47, said he is happy to represent hip-hop music at Woodstock 50 and be a part of a festival that not only focuses on music but has a strong social and political presence.

“To be able to be connected to Woodstock in any shape, form or fashion for me is one of the greatest honors I’ve had as an artist, as human being (and) as a musician,” the Grammy, Oscar and Emmy winner said. “There’s so much going on right now (and) I think one of the best ways we can combat the ignorance, the divisiveness, the hatred is to go out there (and) push love and express love and practice love, and it definitely comes through, that love comes through at Woodstock.”

“I’m not 50, but I’m grateful to be a part of this,” Common said as the audience laughed.

More than 400,000 people attended the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, which was held Aug. 15-17, 1969.

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

DON'T MISS

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

DON'T MISS

‘Once in a Lifetime’ Snow Hits Parts of the US South

DON'T MISS

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

DON'T MISS

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

DON'T MISS

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

DON'T MISS

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

DON'T MISS

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

UP NEXT

The Top 24 Most Anticipated Movie Blockbusters of 2025

UP NEXT

Nintendo’s New Switch 2 Console Will Come Out in 2025

UP NEXT

Sting, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Perform at FireAid Benefit Concert

UP NEXT

Fresno’s Jeff Atmajian, Orchestrator of ‘Joker’ and ‘Wicked,’ Speaks at Saroyan Theatre

UP NEXT

David Lynch, Visionary Filmmaker Behind ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Mulholland Drive,’ Dies at 78

UP NEXT

Ohtani and Dodgers Featured on Four of ESPN’s First 10 Sunday Night Baseball Broadcasts

UP NEXT

Crunchy Is the Texture of the Moment and People Just Can’t Get Enough

UP NEXT

What Are You Sipping in 2025? These Beverage Trends Might Just Surprise You

UP NEXT

Luke Bryan Brings ‘Farm Tour’ to Clovis at Harlan Ranch

UP NEXT

‘Wicked’ Tops SAG Awards Nominations as Many Big Names Are Snubbed

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

4 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

4 hours ago

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

4 hours ago

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

4 hours ago

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

5 hours ago

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

5 hours ago

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

6 hours ago

Much of the Damage from the LA Fires Could Have Been Averted

7 hours ago

CA Sued the Tar Out of Trump the First Time Around. How Did It Do?

7 hours ago

Israel’s Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures, Adding to Pressure on Netanyahu

8 hours ago

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on pai...

55 minutes ago

President Donald Trump signs an executive order as he attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)
55 minutes ago

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

Ichiro Suzuki in Yankee Pinstripes
4 hours ago

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

People walk past the 1900 Storm memorial sculpture on Seawall Blvd. during an icy winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
4 hours ago

‘Once in a Lifetime’ Snow Hits Parts of the US South

The five turbines of Block Island Wind Farm operate, Dec. 7, 2023, off the coast of Block Island, R.I., during a tour organized by Orsted. (AP File)
4 hours ago

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

Photo of Mexican Oxy, fentanyl laced blue pills
4 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

President Donald Trump talks about the Endurance all-electric pickup truck, made in Lordstown, Ohio, at the White House, Sept. 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP File)
4 hours ago

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

A Border Patrol truck rides along the border wall in Sunland Park, N.M., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP/Andres Leighton)
4 hours ago

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

Police are investigating after a man was found shot near a Visalia shopping center and transported to Kaweah Health.
5 hours ago

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend