Rolling Stones tour?
According to Billboard.biz, the Live Nation lawsuit and Cohl's countersuit boil down to a "non-compete exemption" that would have allowed Cohl to promote a Rolling Stones tour later this year with Live Nation's help. Cohl alleges that Live Nation tried to "interfere" and "destroy" his plan by staging their own Stones tour without him, breaching the exemption.
It's no secret the Rolling Stones were planning to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2012 in some capacity, but so far they've refused to say that they're going on a half-centennial tour. In November 2009, it was rumored that the Stones would tour in 2010, but that of course didn't happen. The Stones had been rumored to headline every festival from Glastonbury to Bonnaroo last year, but that also didn't happen. In a touring industry struggling with declining ticket sales, a Rolling Stones tour is an automatic moneymaker -- and the "crown jewel" of Cohl's plan for Live Nation when he was serving as chairman in 2008.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have been informed of the court battle between Live Nation and Cohl, Billboard.biz reports, and the duo have said they don't want to be dragged into the dispute. They're probably too busy figuring out which leather pants to bring on the road next year, anyway.
