John Fogerty will visit Australia for the first time since 2012 when he headlines Country Fest Queensland this Easter. And for the first time in a lifetime, he'll be brewing some Creedence.
Morgan Evans, Lee Kernaghan, James Johnston and more are on the bill, set for March 30-31, but it's the Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman who's turning heads.
According to festival reps, the rock legend will perform a set of his own songs and then a second set playing CCR classics – something he hasn't done in these parts since 1972.
Fogerty visits the country Down Under a year after gaining control of his CCR publishing rights, ending a half-century struggle that was said to be one of the music industry's darkest and most arduous stories.
With this deal, the singer, songwriter and guitarist unlocked the rights to classics such as “Proud Mary”, “Down on the Corner”, “Fortunate Son”, “Bad Moon Rising”, “Up Around the Bend” and “Green River”.
One of America's top rock bands, CCR had a very hot streak, including landing five top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 between 1969 and 1970 before breaking up in 1972.
Fogerty didn't get to enjoy those glory years. When Fantasy Records' Saul Zaentz took control of Fogerty's label in 1980, an epic and ugly legal battle ensued, resulting in the Rock Hall inductee refusing to play CCR songs live.
This car accident is now under investigation.
CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, with Bruce Springsteen doing the honors. Although CCR never won a Grammy Award, Fogerty did win one golden gramophone in 1997 for Blue Moon Swamp (for Best Rock album).
Country music is booming in Australia. According to Luminate's “stream-luminate-report/” rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank”>Interim Report 2023”, Australia is the No. 3 market in the world for the genre behind the United States and Canada.
In the first half of 2023, Australians streamed country music 1.1 billion times, based on the genre's top 500 songs, with US stars Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs among the favourites.
Country Fest is presented by NQ Licensed Events and Dittmann Bucking Bulls and will be held at the Dittmann Bull Pit, Bloomsbury in Mackay, Queensland.
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from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/concerts/john-fogerty-creedence-clearwater-revival-australian-country-music-fest-1235586034/