 |
Backstreet Boys back out of concert due to family deathStatewire SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) -- The Backstreet Boys canceled a concert in this Minneapolis suburb at the last minute when the sister of one of the band members unexpectedly died. About 19, 000 fans were waiting for the band to take the stage as the last of eight bands during Sunday' s Last Chance Summer Dance when an official from sponsor KDWB Radio announced the band would not appear. " I' m in love with them, " said a sobbing Kim Jensen, 13, of Minneapolis, wearing two Backstreet Boys necklaces, a T-shirt and baseball cap. " They should have announced it earlier." KDWB program director Rob Morris said he got the word while the group prior to the Backstreet Boys was performing about 8 p.m. Singer Kevin Richardson said that' s about when the band found out, also, that the 25-year-old sister of Howie Dorough died Saturday of lupus in North Carolina. The group planned to perform as a quartet, which it' s done before, but one member was stranded in Florida partly because of the recently ended Northwest Airlines strike, Richardson said. " We would have been able to do the show at 10:30 (p.m.), but that' s too late on a school night, " Richardson said. " In six years of touring, we' ve never canceled a show. We' re sorry. ... It' s important for us to make it up." No date was set. About 40 people were taken to area hospitals for heat-related illnesses as the crowd endured 93-degree heat. Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
