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Why The Woodstock 50 Music Festival, Featuring Headliners Miley Cyrus & Jay-Z, Has Been Called Off

Photo: Tucker Ranson/Pictorial Parade/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
UPDATE: Barely one month after announcing its stacked lineup, the Woodstock 50 festival has been cancelled.
The festival's investors found it impossible to throw the kind of event they were hoping for — one worthy of the iconic Woodstock name.
The Dentsu Aegis Network, who was set to fund the festival, shared a statement with Billboard regarding the cancellation. "We have a strong history of producing experiences that bring people together around common interests and causes which is why we chose to be a part of the Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival. But despite our tremendous investment of time, effort and commitment, we don’t believe the production of the festival can be executed as an event worthy of the Woodstock Brand name while also ensuring the health and safety of the artists, partners and attendees."
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"As a result and after careful consideration, Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live, a partner of Woodstock 50, has decided to cancel the festival. As difficult as it is, we believe this is the most prudent decision for all parties involved.”
Scheduled performers included Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, Dead & Company, Chance the Rapper, Robert Plant, Santana, Halsey, and more.
Tickets for Woodstock 50, which was scheduled for August 16-19 in Watkins Glen, NY, never went on sale. Fyre Fest crisis, averted.
This story was originally published March 20 at 12 p.m.
Fifty years after throwing the first Woodstock festival, iconic field is coming back to life for Woodstock 50. And it's not your parent's music festival. Although, if your parents were at Woodstock in the late 60s then make sure you tell them how cool that is.
This time around, in 2019, the lineup is spanning decades of incredible artists over the course of three days. Michael Lang, the festival organizer, says that he wanted to bring the event back to its full splendor. "What we’ve assembled here is a combination of some of the great artists from our era and many of the great artists of today and hopefully some of the great artists of tomorrow," he said while announcing the news of the fest on Tuesday night, according to Rolling Stone. “Many of these artists are committed to social change, have their own issues that they support, but also support these global issues of climate change and Black Lives Matter.” And the fest taking place at the original stomping grounds at Watkins Glen in upstate New York, feels like a full circle moment, especially when you hear who is playing.
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There's Santana, Robert Plant, and Dead & Company to balance performances by Miley Cyrus, Chance The Rapper, Jay-Z, Halsey, Common, and Janelle Monae. Check them out below.
And yes, Maggie Rogers may embody Janis Joplin from the grave, just as the Lord intended.

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