Lil Jon Mulls Suing Live Nation Over Lovers & Friends Festival

Lil Jon and his legal team are reportedly considring a lawsuit against Live Nation over its decision to continue operating its “Lovers & Friends Festival” in 2023 without his participation. The rapper had a hit single in 2004 released under the same title, performed with Ludacris and Usher. According to the news published on TMZ, Jon’s legal team issued a letter to the concert promoter stating the rap star first tried to reach a financial agreement over the festival for the use of the name of his single.

Jon allegedly started negotiations with Live Nation through one of his lawyers, Doug Davis, back in 2022 but did not want to push too hard because he was focused on ensuring last year’s festival – headlined by Jon, Usher and Ludacris – was a success. The festival was already delayed for two years due to covid-19, and he didn’t want to cause any situation that might put the 2022 show at risk. It was claimed that Lil Jon had attempted to avoid litigation for months.

Although Jon admits his “Lovers & Friends” track is a cover of Michael Sterling’s 1991 song, he insists his version is the one that became “omnipresent in the Black community” and Live Nation uses the name on its festival, according to the same source.

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Based on the reasoning above, Jon’s attorney Ed McPherson compares “putting on a ‘Lovers & Friends’ fest without Jon … to having a ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ festival without Journey, or a ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’ festival without Jimmy Buffett”.

Last year saw the inaugural of Lovers & Friends Festival in Las Vegas with headliners Usher and Ludacris along with Lil Jon – this year’s line up does not include Jon, though. It will be co-headlined by 50 Cent and The Diplomats, and bring a strong lineup of performers that includes Chris Brown, Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey, Pitbull, and Usher – who curates the event alongside Ludakris. The event is scheduled for Saturday, May 6 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.

The full lineup (as announced thus far) of the festival’s 2023 edition and ticket links are listed below:

Ticket Links

Lovers & Friends Festival tickets at MEGASeats | 10% off use code TicketNews
Lovers & Friends Festival tickets at ScoreBig
Lovers & Friends Festival tickets at SeatGeek
Lovers & Friends Festival tickets at StubHub
Lovers & Friends Festival tickets at Ticket Club | Free Membership use code TicketNews
Lovers & Friends Festival tickets at Vivid Seats

Lil Jon Mulls Suing Live Nation Over Lovers & Friends Festival

Ticket Links

Lovers & Friends Festival 2023 Performers