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Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Olly Murs cancelled Olympic celebration over performance disagreement, says management
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 19 October 2016
Olly Murs cancelled a performance at Manchester’s Heroes Parade, which was celebrating the success of British athletes at the Rio Olympics and Paralympics, on artistic grounds. Apparently.
The parade, which took place on Monday, finished up in the city’s Albert Square, where Murs was scheduled to give a headline set. However, on the morning of the show, with organisers citing “unforeseen circumstances”, Kaiser Chiefs were brought in to replace him.
Murs later drew criticism when he was seen at the Liverpool v Manchester Premier League match at the former’s Anfield stadium that very evening.
Staving off assumptions that the “unforeseen circumstances” had been mainly Murs getting a ticket to a football game, his management said in a statement: “Olly was asked to play the Olympic and Paralympic parade in Manchester on Monday and as a huge supporter of the Olympics agreed wholeheartedly. Sadly, after weeks of preparation, 24 hours before the parade he was told to completely change what had been agreed with his performance, and as such his team made the decision to pull him from the show”.
In its own statement, Manchester Council, which organised the event, said: “We have a very successful track record for working closely with major artists on events in Manchester, and this is the first time an artist has pulled out”.
