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 5 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

Boeing’s Financial Woes Continue, While Families of Crash Victims Urge US to Prosecute

DON'T MISS

Police Tangle With Students in Texas and California as Wave of Campus Protest Against Gaza War Grows

DON'T MISS

Meet the Valley Republican Predicting a November Win Over Esmeralda Soria

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Construction Workers on 2018 Fresno Unified Project Still Not Paid

DON'T MISS

Slumping California Risks Losing World’s ‘5th Largest Economy’ Title

DON'T MISS

Ukraine Uses Long-Range Missiles Secretly Provided by US to Hit Russian-Held Areas, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Upward Bound: Edison High’s Garcia Headed to Johns Hopkins

DON'T MISS

Boxing Star Ryan Garcia Wants to Meet Netanyahu, Pledges Aid for Gaza Children

DON'T MISS

Fong Won’t Debate Boudreaux, but We Get Hot Topic Answers Anyway

DON'T MISS

Legislation Pandering to Tribal Casinos Is a Bad Bet for Fresno Cardroom Employees

UP NEXT

Long-Lost First Model of USS Enterprise from ‘Star Trek’ Boldly Goes Home

UP NEXT

How 4/20 Grew From Humble Roots to Marijuana’s High Holiday

UP NEXT

Taylor Swift Drops 15 New Songs on Double Album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’

UP NEXT

Savannah Bananas Dominate Social Media, Sell Out Stadiums Nationwide Including Fresno

UP NEXT

Big Names in Rap, Christian Music, and Comedy Headline Must-See Weekend Entertainment

UP NEXT

What Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse Can Tell Us About the Public Domain and Remix Culture

UP NEXT

‘Civil War’ Declares Victory at the Box Office, Toppling ‘Godzilla X Kong’

UP NEXT

Are Americans Feeling Like They Get Enough Sleep? Dream On, a New Gallup Poll Says

UP NEXT

Teacher Appreciation Week Surprises That Educators Will Love

UP NEXT

Reacher Star Alan Ritchson Calls Donald Trump a ‘Rapist’

Wired Wednesday: Construction Workers on 2018 Fresno Unified Project Still Not Paid

11 hours ago

Slumping California Risks Losing World’s ‘5th Largest Economy’ Title

11 hours ago

Ukraine Uses Long-Range Missiles Secretly Provided by US to Hit Russian-Held Areas, Officials Say

13 hours ago

Upward Bound: Edison High’s Garcia Headed to Johns Hopkins

Local Education /

14 hours ago

Boxing Star Ryan Garcia Wants to Meet Netanyahu, Pledges Aid for Gaza Children

15 hours ago

Fong Won’t Debate Boudreaux, but We Get Hot Topic Answers Anyway

15 hours ago

Legislation Pandering to Tribal Casinos Is a Bad Bet for Fresno Cardroom Employees

16 hours ago

About 1 in 4 US Adults Over 50 Say They Expect to Never Retire, an AARP Study Finds

16 hours ago

Biden Signs a $95 Billion War Aid Measure With Assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

17 hours ago

Ancestry Website to Catalogue Names of Japanese Americans Incarcerated During World War II

17 hours ago

Boeing’s Financial Woes Continue, While Families of Crash Victims Urge US to Prosecute

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost $355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft ma...

10 hours ago

10 hours ago

Boeing’s Financial Woes Continue, While Families of Crash Victims Urge US to Prosecute

10 hours ago

Police Tangle With Students in Texas and California as Wave of Campus Protest Against Gaza War Grows

CA District 27 Assembly candidate Joanna Garcia Rose
10 hours ago

Meet the Valley Republican Predicting a November Win Over Esmeralda Soria

11 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Construction Workers on 2018 Fresno Unified Project Still Not Paid

11 hours ago

Slumping California Risks Losing World’s ‘5th Largest Economy’ Title

13 hours ago

Ukraine Uses Long-Range Missiles Secretly Provided by US to Hit Russian-Held Areas, Officials Say

Local Education /
14 hours ago

Upward Bound: Edison High’s Garcia Headed to Johns Hopkins

15 hours ago

Boxing Star Ryan Garcia Wants to Meet Netanyahu, Pledges Aid for Gaza Children

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend