Severe thunderstorms have forced the Black Eyed Peas to cancel their Central Park benefit concert tonight (June 9).
The event, which was expected to draw upwards was 60,000 people, was schedule to kick off at 7:30pm, but darkening skies prompted authorities to prevent any concertgoers from entering Central Park’s Great Lawn, where the event was to be held. Fans were eventually allowed to enter the park just before 8pm ET, but the worsening weather forced organizers to pull the plug on the show around 8:15pm.
The concert — a benefit for the Robin Hood charity — was also to feature appearances by Taylor Swift, Natasha Bedingfield, Tony Bennett, Carole King and LL Cool J.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
UPDATED (June 10, 2:20pm): In a statement to MTV, the Robin Hood Foundation said, “The heat wasn’t going to stop them, the rain wasn’t going to stop them, but the lightning – it stopped them. It came down to safety for everyone. Organizers are hoping to reschedule, so ticket buyers should hold onto their tickets. Robinhood.org will have information in the next week or so.”
The performers were just as disappointed by the cancellation as the event’s organizers and of course, the massive crowd of fans in Central Park. Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas tweeted, “Fergie is really sorry it’s not happening, we feel horrible … We are devastated and Fergie told me to tweet this she loves u all.”
Taboo added, “I hope that the concert will be rescheduled ASAP, our pea-ple deserve it, my peaple from chase and robinhood deserve this. NYC, we love u.”
Taylor Swift, who was also slated to perform at the event, tweeted about her own disappointment, saying, “I was like, ‘I get to sing with Fergie in NYC?!’ and then there was rain and lightning and they’re like ‘it’s cancelled’ and I was like :(.”