Pre-Game Show Featuring Prince And Erykah Badu Cancelled

Brutal weather in Dallas battered the Super Bowl festivities, but the biggest fiasco was the Prince concert scheduled for last night and canceled at the last minute.

The superstar was due to perform at the Hotel Intercontinental along with Erykah Badu and others, with tickets selling for $1,500 each. But organizers called it off just an hour before it was to start, climaxing a flurry of conflicting statements about the show being canceled, resurrected and canceled again.

“We are extremely disappointed that the organizers, the Meridian Entertainment Group and the River Alexander Group . . . were unable to bring Prince and his band to Dallas on Feb. 4,” said Prince’s manager, Kiran Sharma, in a statement last night.

“Our understanding is that they lost their investors and were not able to adequately fund and produce the event. Prince was looking forward to performing in support of the Goss-Michael Foundation.”

According to sources, the problem started when the River group didn’t cover Prince or his band’s travel costs or the rental of concert equipment. “They kept saying they’d cover the costs after they had the money from ticket sales, but they never could come up with the cash,” said one source.

The foundation, which benefits art education, put out a press release yesterday afternoon saying the concert was canceled, and blamed River Alexander Group for being “unable to fund and produce the evening.” A few minutes later, the charity reversed itself, saying, “Circumstances have changed and the event featuring Prince WILL take place . . . Prince has arrived in Dallas and will perform this evening.” But at 6:30 last night, a fed-up Prince personally canceled.