John Fogerty 'Blindsided' By Country Fest QLD Removal

Country Fest Queensland shocked punters after booking megastar John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame to headline this year’s festival, but in a disappointing turn of events, he will no longer perform at the festival. The announcement arrives a month out from the occasion.

Fogerty was due to travel to Australia for exclusive sets at Country Fest Queensland, 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.

Yesterday (27 February), Country Fest Queensland issued a statement 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 a statement of his own.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, John Fogerty will no longer be attending our Country Fest QLD Lineup 2024 Event,” the Country Fest Queensland statement reads. “We are working hard on a revised line up and will have more information coming soon.”

The statement continued to mention that festival organisers are keen on seeing the event roll out with the remainder of the line-up – which features Morgan Evans, Lee Kernaghan, Max Jackson, James Johnston, The Wolfe Brothers and many other stars of Australian country music – unchanged.

However, festival organisers understand that there are punters who likely bought tickets just to see John Fogerty, and advised them of their options regarding refunds.

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“For ticket holders who no longer wish to attend Country Fest QLD due to the non-appearance of John Fogerty, our ticketing partner Oztix will contact all current ticket holders via email to advise your refund options.”

In his own statement, 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.”

The Music has reached out to Country Fest Queensland organisers for comment.

Fans responded to Fogerty’s removal from the line-up with disappointment. Some comments on social media read:

“Why did you cancel him? I’m not coming then”, “this will hurt the organisers”, “what are those ‘unforeseen circumstances’, may I ask?” and “Well this is a cluster f#&k. John Fogerty saying you dumped him and your statement saying he won't be attending just don't add up.”

UPDATE (4:04 pm, Wednesday, 28 February): Just under an hour ago, Fogerty returned to Instagram with another message for fans, addressing the mysterious cancellation: “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.

“It’s a big disappointment to me, what is going on right now – a shock actually, because 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.”

Fogerty went on to perform an acoustic rendition of his classic Bad Moon Rising, which you can take a look at below.