Rapper M.I.A. is a little young to retire from performing live, right? Music tradition says she’s supposed to kick around for at least another 10 years until she even thinks of retiring, and even then, it’s only so she can launch a comeback tour a year or so later. That’s why concertgoers at Tennessee’s Bonnaroo were shocked to hear M.I.A. say she was retiring from the stage not once, not twice but threeseparate times during her performance at the 2008 festival. Claiming she wanted to focus on recording new material, she was, um, MIA for the rest of her tour, canceling dates in Britain. She’s already broken her pledge, performing — pregnant, no less — during a Brooklyn, N.Y., party and the 2009 Grammy Awards. Expect that comeback tour any day now.
Top 10 Music-Festival Moments
Can't make it to Texas to see one of the 1,700 bands performing at the 2010 SXSW festival? You can console yourself with this list of the 10 most famous — and infamous — moments in music-festival history.
M.I.A. at Bonnaroo — 2008
Full List
Memorable Festivals
- Flaming Lips at SXSW — 2006
- Bob Dylan at the Newport
Folk Festival — 1965 - Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival — 1967
- The Who at Woodstock — 1969
- The Rolling Stones at Altamont — 1969
- U2 at Live Aid — 1985
- Woodstock — 1999
- Rage Against the Machine at Lollapalooza — 1993
- Jay-Z at Glastonbury — 2008
- M.I.A. at Bonnaroo — 2008