Fan sues Stones for US$51 million over cancellation

A fan has sued the Rolling Stones for US$51 million ($76 million) after they pulled out of a New Jersey show last week.

Rosalie Druyan from Brooklyn sued the band for cancelling their October 27 concert in Atlantic City, New Jersey, four hours before it was scheduled to start.

Ms Druyan filed a class-action lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday accusing Jagger and the Stones of fraud and in acting in bad faith because of the cancellation, which she said cost her and thousands of fans money on non-refundable hotel bookings.

The suit charges that Jagger sought medical attention before the concert and knew he would not perform but did not disclose that in time for ticket-holders to cancel travel reservations.

Druyan bought a pair of tickets on the internet for US$575 and said she was not notified about the cancellation until it was too late to cancel her US$300 hotel reservations at the Trump Taj Mahal. A spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment on the suit.

The rock legends have announced that the postponed Atlantic City concert has been re-scheduled for November 17.

The legal action came as the band cancelled another concert in Hawaii so singer Mick Jagger could rest his voice.

A spokeswoman said the band was cancelling a November 22 date at Honolulu's Aloha Stadium - their first in Hawaii since 1998 - that was scheduled to end the second North American leg of the "Bigger Bang" world tour. The group is also juggling the dates for three other shows so Jagger, 63, can recuperate.

Their world tour will now end on November 25 in Vancouver, Canada, which originally was set to host the Stones on Friday. Additionally, Sunday's show in Oakland, Calif., has been postponed by a day to November 6, and the November 18 show in Los Angeles will take place on November 22.

On Monday, the Stones announced that a rare club appearance scheduled for Tuesday at New York's Beacon Theatre had been delayed to November 1 on the advice of Jagger's doctor. The rescheduled show, which is being taped for a DVD by director Martin Scorsese, will still go ahead, the spokeswoman said.

On Sunday, Jagger sang for former US President Bill Clinton's 60th birthday celebration at the Beacon, where millions of dollars were raised for the Clinton Foundation's fight against AIDS, poverty and the environment.

In August, two Stones shows in Spain were cancelled due to Jagger's laryngitis. The European tour had already been delayed by several weeks so that guitarist Keith Richards could recover from a head injury.