Country Fest Queensland Negotiations With John Fogerty Now A Court Matter
Country Fest Queensland organisers claimed that negotiations between the festival and John Fogerty’s team had ceased earlier this month.
John Fogerty (Source: Supplied)
Country Fest Queensland organisers have issued a new statement regarding the dropping of headliner John Fogerty from this year’s event.
According to the statement posted on Instagram and corroborated by the ABC, the festival claimed that negotiations between the festival and John Fogerty’s team had ceased earlier this month.
Now, the matter will be heard in the Supreme Court of Queensland in mid-March. As a result of the matter now being a court issue, Country Fest Queensland organisers won’t comment any further.
You can read the festival’s statement below.
Negotiations with John Fogerty’s team had been in place for a number of months. Those negotiations were well advanced and were seeking to be progressed by us with best endeavours, however, those negotiations did not reach a final outcome, resulting in negotiations ceasing on Friday 23rd February 2024.
The matter is now subject to court proceedings in the Supreme Court of Queensland and is due to be heard in mid-March. Until such time as the proceedings are dealt with, we do not intend to comment further.
Yesterday (27 February), Country Fest Queensland stated that Fogerty had been dropped from the forthcoming event, citing “unforeseen circumstances”. According to Fogerty, that announcement surprised him just as much as it did the fans, writing that he was “blindsided” in his own statement.
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The Music contacted festival organisers for comment when the statements were posted yesterday.
Fogerty was due to arrive in Australia next month to headline the festival held in Bloomsbury (near Mackay) on Saturday, 30 and Sunday, 31 March. Fogerty was set to play a two-hour set, one of his own songs from his expansive back catalogue and one celebrating Creedence Clearwater Revival classics. His performances would’ve marked his first Australian shows in 12 years.
Fogerty wrote that he was “ready to celebrate” his one-off Australian appearances and claimed that he wasn’t the reason for the “unforeseen circumstances”.
“I was ready to celebrate with you all for my one and only show this year in Australia when the Country Fest Queensland blindsided me yesterday by cancelling my appearance,” Fogerty wrote on Instagram.
“It was posted that I would not be appearing due to unforeseen circumstances. Well, I can tell you, my friends, I was not the reason for the ‘unforeseen circumstances.”
He continued, “I was ready to come down there and excited to celebrate getting my songs back with all of you,” adding that you can hear from him again: “Look for a further statement from me later today.”
Later in the afternoon, Fogerty made good on his promise to share a further statement, posting a video (starring his dog) and addressed his fans like so:
“Well, sometimes the dogs make a lot more sense than the people. This is especially for my Australian fans. There’s a festival up in the northern part of Australia, and [for] some reason, they say I’m not playing there, but as far as I know, I’m ready, willing and able to play it.”
Fogerty called his removal from the line-up “a big disappointment” and “a shock”. He continued, “I was really looking forward to and planning on playing this concert up in Queensland – and I’m really sorry for the fans that had looked forward to it and planned on it; me too. I don’t know what to say, sometimes things get complicated beyond my grasp, anyway. I know I will be in Australia soon, and I’ll play for you then.”
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