Thursday, March 28, 2024

Exclusive: Paul McCartney, Stones, The Who Getting $14Mil Apiece for “Oldchella” Shows– Led Zeppelin Declined

Share

Led Zeppelin is on trial right now for maybe copying some of “Stairway to Heaven” from another song.

But the Zeps have bigger problems: they turned down $14 million to play the “Oldchella” Desert Trip shows this fall with Paul McCartney, the Stones, Neil Young, the Who, Roger Waters and Bob Dylan.

I broke the story about the mega rock concerts right here in this column.

My sources say that Jimmy Page was all for it, but Robert Plant wouldn’t agree to any kind of reunion. “Jimmy went crazy,” one source told me. “He really wanted to do it.”

All the acts, I’m told, are being paid $7 million per weekend. The shows run the two middle weekends of October in Indio, California.

It’s “favored nations,” even though there’s been speculation among my sources that McCartney and the Stones are getting more. One source pointed out that there are four Stones and one McCartney. My retort: it’s McCartney.

“That’s what they want you to think,” says one concert promotion expert.

The $7 million doesn’t include merchandise cuts, which will be huge.

If Led Zeppelin loses the “Stairway to Heaven” case they might reconsider when Oldchella comes around in 2017. Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen told the LA Times today he’s been talked to about those shows. Can you imagine the Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, the Chicago-Earth Wind & Fire collection, and god knows who else?

But for now, no Led Zep.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
spot_img

Read more

In Other News