Jay-Z Made Glastonbury Big Spenders, “The Year He Played We Nearly Went Bankrupt”

Written By S. Samuel

Known for selling out Madison Square Garden in the United States, rap mogul Jay-Z nearly forced England's annual Glastonbury Festival to become bankrupt after headlining three years ago.

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Glastonbury organizer Michael Eavis has broken the news of the annual festival slowly closing shop within the next few years.

“We’ve probably got another three or four years. Womad and Latitude are not selling out,” he commented. Eavis also claimed that his festival has suffered financial problems of its own, especially in 2008. “We sell out only because we get huge headliners. In the year Jay-Z played we nearly went bankrupt,” he added. Glastonbury, which was headlined by U2, Coldplay and Beyonce last month, is due to take a break next year before returning in 2013. (NME)

In 2009, Young Hov’s luxury rider, or list of demands, from the “Last Smash Bash” concert in Arizona landed online.

The chart-topping performer did not get every perk requested in his concert rider, since the school does not provide artists with alcohol, tobacco, or $400,000 luxury vehicles. Jay-Z demands that promoters provide him with ground transportation while he is in town performing. Specifically, the rap star requires a late-model black Maybach (either the 57 or 62 model) with tinted windows. Carter’s dressing room must be stocked with Sapporo beer, vodka, tequila, and two bottles of $300 Champagne and two bottles (at $200 apiece) of 2004 Sassicaia, which his rider helpfully describes as a “Red, Italian Wine from Bolgheri Region.” Additionally, Carter requires “Good Quality” peanut butter and jelly, one martini shaker, 12 shot glasses, and a pack of Marlboro Lights. A marked-up copy of the Jay-Z rider, provided by the University of Arizona, includes the school’s deletion of items it declined to provide the rapper. (The Smoking Gun)

Jay took to the Glastonbury stage in 2008 after initially being met by criticism by rockers.

Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher had called hip hop at Glastonbury “wrong” and traditionalists in Internet chatrooms had said they would have preferred a band like Radiohead, while critics also blamed the rapper for slow ticket sales. In a nod to Gallagher, Grammy Award-winner Jay-Z — married to singer Beyonce — took to the stage to the strains of the Mancunian band’s hit “Wonderwall”, before running through a repertoire of his own hits, including “Hard Knock Life”. “They say you don’t want me here, Glastonbury,” queried the rapper. “Now tell me, where is the love?” That question was answered by huge cheers from the crowd, whose only disappointment was that Beyonce did not make an appearance. (Reuters)

Jay recently talked about breaking the music boundary by performing at Glastonbury in 2008.

“We are a great American brand,” Jay explained referring to Rocawear. “We don’t envision ourselves as an urban brand or streetwear brand. We wanted to show people how we’ve evolved and repositioned ourselves, without abandoning our original DNA. It’s all walks of life. When I played the Glastonbury music festival people said a hip-hop artist couldn’t play a rock festival. But culture isn’t segmented like that any more. There’s so much cross-pollinization and the same thing is true for clothes.” (Necole Bitchie)

Check out Jay-Z at Glastonbury 2008 below:

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

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