Prominent English folk rock band Mumford & Sons pulled out of Bonnaroo earlier this week on Thursday to deal with the medical issue of one of the band’s members. The folk rockers were pretty high up on the list of important groups set to play during the music festival and it would stand to reason the festival would look for an equally big name to sign up in the band’s place. On Friday, festival staff announced Jack Johnson has been signed on to take the headlining slot at the big event.
The news was announced via the Bonnaroo website, with the festival noting Johnson will take the stage on Saturday, June 15. I’m not certain Jack Johnson fans and Mumford & Sons fans are exactly the same group of people, but it’s really nice for the 38-year-old to step in when needed and help out the festival and the band when both were in a bit of a bind. Here’s what Johnson had to say about his upcoming pinch hit:
“I was on my way to Bonnaroo to sit in on a set with my friends ALO last night when we got the call asking if I could possibly help out and cover for Mumford and Sons. I heard the news about Ted Dwane and was happy to know that he was on his way to recovery. I called my band and asked if they were up for it. Long story short – they are headed this way. I’ve got a lot of lyrics and chords to relearn by Saturday night. I was here to play the first Bonnaroo and it is a very special festival to my band. We are excited to hit the stage again.”
On Tuesday of this week, Mumford & Sons announced the group’s bassist, Ted Dwane had a blood clot in his brain that needed to be taken care of immediately. The group rescheduled this week’s shows so that Dwane could recover from the operation to remove the clot. On Thursday, the group also opted to bow out of the Bonnaroo show this weekend. If there was ever a reason to cancel a performance, recovering from a life-threatening surgery would be it. It’s just nice that Johnson could step in to fill-in for the band—especially since the man is not currently on tour.
Mumford & Sons does have other tour dates scheduled throughout the summer and early fall, and here’s to hoping Dwane a quick and easy recovery so that the group can hit the road again, soon.
