December 12, 2011 17:28

Big Day Out festival boss: 'We offered Eminem $6 million to headline'

Promoter also says they were snubbed by Prince and Blink-182

Photo Gallery: Eminem
Photo: Danny North/NME

The promoter of Australia and New Zealand's Big Day Out festival has revealed that they offered Eminem $6 million (£3,848,301) to headline next year's event.

Festival boss Ken West told the New Zealand Herald that they had been unable to add the rapper to the line-up despite offering the huge fee, and had also been turned down by Prince and Blink-182.

The 2012 bash, which will run in January and February across Australia and New Zealand, will now be headlined by Soundgarden, Kanye West and Kasabian, but West revealed that the original plan for the line-up was vastly different.

He said: "We got asked over a year ago by Prince's representation, saying 'We really want to do the Big Day Out. So we spent a year working that forward.

"At the same time we had Blink-182 chasing us for a year. Saying, 'This'll get Travis [Barker] on the plane.' Neither happened. It just kept going to the end of the line and nobody actually ever said no."

Responding to criticisms that the price for tickets for the festival was too high he said: "For anyone to complain in New Zealand that the ticket price is too high, you only have to go to Australia to have a look at what you missed out on."

He then added:

Eminem tickets were $500NZ [(£250)]. So for Eminem walking out with $15 million off three shows, means that it was la la land to ever think he could do the Big Day Out, even though we offered $6 million.

This year's Big Day Out festival starts in Auckland, New Zealand on January 20 and finishes in Perth, Australia on February 5. For more information, see http://www.bigdayout.com/