STATEMENT FROM GROOVIN’ IN THE PARK – BUSY SIGNAL IGNORED PROMOTER’S PLEA TO CONTINUE HIS PERFORMANCE!

NYC: First, I want to say thanks to the many thousands of music lovers who came out on Sunday to make this year’s Groovin’ In The Park 2017 the biggest concert of its kind in the New York region.

It is however with deep disappointment that I learned of patrons leaving the Roy Wilkins Park on Sunday immediately after the aborted performance of reggae megastar Busy Signal. I would first like to apologize to those fans who felt offended by what appeared to be disrespect to one of our A-list Jamaican artists.

We at Groovin’ love Busy Signal dearly as we do with all our performing artists. We overcame significant hurdles to ensure that Busy was booked for our premium 2017 concert, and we did everything we could to ensure that he felt welcomed and comfortable. We would never do anything to compromise the brilliance of his performance.

Chris Roberts Groovin INC CEO

It became clear early in the afternoon that the concert was running late and all acts, including the fantastic and tear-jerking Rock Steady package with the symphony orchestra and mass choir were asked to reduce their performance time so as to enable us to bring the concert to an 8:30 PM closure as required by city regulations. Everyone agreed, including Busy Signal and R Kelly.

At some point during Busy’s set, it seemed that an unauthorized individual or individuals were trying to tell him to cut his show. We are still investigating as to who this person or persons might have been, but we are sure this flagrant discourtesy was not from city officials, city police nor from Groovin’ executives.

I realized that something was amiss and I raced on stage to persuade Busy to stay on but in understandable frustration, he abandoned the microphone and walked off the stage on his own accord. He ignored my plea to continue with his performance. This is supported by a careful review of the video footage. The production stage manager Derek Lewis, a veteran with almost three decades of technical expertise with managing some of the biggest shows internationally verified earlier that there is no evidence that any plugs were ever pulled or in any other way disconnected during Busy’s performance. Happily, the concert quickly resumed so the many thousands of music fans could also enjoy the performance of R Kelly.

Busy Signal

We know this concert was an important one for Busy as his mother and grandmother were in the audience, seeing him perform in concert for the first time. I have spoken with Busy personally to clarify the situation.

Groovin’ In The Park profoundly regrets any misunderstandings that the brief but distracting disruption created. We have already begun taking steps to ensure that time management of our concerts won’t be an issue in the future and we look forward to once again delivering to our audience the finest and the best quality entertainment, as has been our tradition for the past seven consecutive years.

Again, thanks to all of you for being a part of building a dream that was born in the Caribbean American communities of Queens, New York.

Chris Roberts
Founder & CEO
Groovin’ In The Park