Unfortunately for the Promiseland festival team, this weekend’s three-day event hasn’t gone so smoothly, with one of the headliners, Asake, departing the bill earlier this week. Asake was set to headline on Sunday (6 October) alongside Busta Rhymes and Omah Lay.
This morning, organisers of the modern R&B festival added to punters woes by sharing a statement from another headliner, Miguel, who announced that he’d pulled out of performing at the event, citing an urgent family matter.
Miguel was one of the festival headliners and was set to perform tomorrow. However, festival organisers have replaced him with Jamaican musician Masego.
Miguel’s statement reads:
Hey Australia, I was so excited to come down and perform for you at Promiseland but due to an urgent family matter I unfortunately cannot come and perform. See you next year.
An American singer-songwriter, Miguel’s vocals have been compared to Prince and Babyface. He’s worked with Travis Scott, Mariah Carey, Calvin Harris, Benny Blanco, and more. Miguel is expected to release a new album, Viscera, sometime this year, but no release date has been confirmed.
Miguel was set to return to Australia for the first time since 2018. In a live review of his show at Melbourne’s Forum in July 2018, The Music’s Tobias Handke said, “Of the current crop of new wave R&B superstars, few are as innovative and compelling” as Miguel.
Handke added, “It’s hard to articulate just how gorgeous he sounds, but if Prince and Marvin Gaye had a love child, it would sound something like Miguel.”
In June, J Hus was added as a surprise headliner to Promiseland, joining the shiny 2024 line-up alongside the likes of Metro Boomin, Jorja Smith, REMA and Headie One.
Promiseland co-director Emal Naim said of the upcoming festival when it was announced back in April:
“With this lineup, we firmly believe Promiseland cements itself as a festival staple in Australia; we’re proud of what we’ve done in [2022] and [2023], and can’t wait to deliver a global festival standard to Australian fans this October long weekend.”
You can find more information about the festival here.
