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Neil Young is out, Bryan Adams is in.
Rock the Park, London’s big summer rock music festival, is dropping iconic Canadian rocker Neil Young from its four-night outdoor concert series next month because of illness in his band Crazy Horse and replacing him with fellow Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, organizers announced late Wednesday.
Young, who was to headline the July 13 climax of the concert series in Harris Park, had been hailed by Rock the Park as the biggest act in the 20-year history of the festival when it announced this year’s lineup in February.
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In a statement Wednesday, the festival said it received “unfortunate news” that Young’s tour with Crazy Horse has been cancelled for the rest of the summer. Young’s camp said members of the band are still recovering from illness after a show last month at Detroit’s Pine Knob.
“The Love Earth Tour has been a great experience for us so far,” they said, but “when a couple of us got sick after Detroit’s Pine Knob, we had to stop. We are still not fully recovered, so sadly our great tour will have a big unplanned break.”
Festival owner Brad Jones said organizers only found out two days ago that Young and his band had to cancel, but that Adams is still a big get – especially on short notice.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that Bryan would step in and play for us on the Saturday night,” he said. “The way we look at it . . . it’s one Canadian legend filling in and replacing another Canadian legend.”
Young fans who already have tickets and don’t want to see the substitute show will have 48 hours from Wednesday’s announcement to claim a refund, Jones said.
Young, one of the deans of the industry, is routinely ranked among the greatest rock musicians of all time. Now 78, his hits include Rockin’ In The Free World, The Needle and The Damage Done and Harvest Moon.
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Adams, 64, a singer-songwriter who’s also enjoyed global fame, is best known for his hits such as Summer of ’69, Run to You and Straight from the Heart.
When it began two decades ago, Rock the Park was a classic rock-themed event, originally held as a fundraiser for Bethany’s Hope – which supports research for metachromatic leukodystrophy. Next month’s event is put on in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters London, the Children’s Health Foundation and Make A Wish Southwestern Ontario.
The event has evolved into a four-night series of lineups, each focused on a separate genre. Last summer, for example, hip-hop star Ludacris headlined one night along with performers Ja Rule and Ashanti. On another night, Toronto rockers Billy Talent headlined along with Alexisonfire.
Rock the Park runs from July 10 to 13.
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