John Fogerty defects from troubled Woodstock anniversary festival

John Fogerty has pulled out of Woodstock 50 just weeks before the troubled anniversary event is supposed to take place.

A representative for the singer said Fogerty, who performed at the original 1969 festival with Creedence Clearwater Revival, will now only perform at a smaller anniversary event at Woodstock’s original site in Bethel, New York.

Fogerty appeared alongside the original festival’s co-founder, Michael Lang, in March to announce that Jay-Z, Dead & Company and the Killers would perform at Woodstock 50, set for August 16-18.

The anniversary event has faced a series of setbacks, including the loss of a financial partner and permit denials.

Fogerty will instead perform at the Bethel Woods Centre for the Arts, which is holding its event during the same three-day weekend.

Woodstock 50, at which Miley Cyrus, Imagine Dragons, Chance the Rapper and the Black Keys are slated to perform, does not have a venue and tickets have yet to go on sale.

The festivities were supposed to take place across three main stages at Watkins Glen International racetrack in Watkins Glen, New York, about 115 miles northwest of the original site, but the venue pulled out.

Bloomberg reported that the event will now take place at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, an outdoor amphitheatre in Columbia, Maryland.

Fogerty, 74, will instead perform at the Bethel Woods Centre for the Arts, which is holding its event during the same three-day weekend.

Fogerty will close out the celebration on August 18, while Ringo Starr will perform on August 16 and Santana, also booked for the larger anniversary event, will hit the stage on August 17.

Other performers scheduled for the troubled Woodstock 50 include Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters, David Crosby, Janelle Monae, Brandi Carlile, Country Joe McDonald, Halsey, the Lumineers and Common.