Queen Announce Cancellation of This Summer's Sonisphere Festival

Queen have announced the cancellation of the Sonisphere Festival U.K., an event that was scheduled for July 6 to 8 at England's Knebworth Park. Queen -- featuring American Idol alum Adam Lambert -- were among the headliners.

A statement posted on the band's site, Queenonline.com, reads:

“It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012. Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year was more difficult than we anticipated, and we have spent the last few months fighting hard to keep Sonisphere in the calendar.

"Unfortunately, circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere’s audience would rightly expect."

At the bottom of the statement, Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor added:

"We are disappointed to hear of the cancellation of the Sonisphere Festivals as we were very much looking forward to performing with Adam Lambert and particularly as the venue was Knebworth, our last stand with Freddie. We apologise for the disappointment to all those who were looking forward to seeing us. We are working to see if we can redress the situation at some other venue."

Other acts that were set to play Sonisphere include Wolfmother, Evanescence, Kiss, Marilyn Manson, Cypress Hill, Faith No More, The Darkness, Incubus and others. Check out the poster below.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.