Prince in talks to play Jimi Hendrix covers set at Isle Of Wight Festival?

Isle of Wight Festival 2016

Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th June 2016
Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 2DN, England MAP
£195 with camping

Daily capacity: 90,000

Last updated: Tue 31st May 2016

Isle of Wight Festival boss John Giddings has revealed he has had talks with Prince to perform a set of Jimi Hendrix covers at Isle Of Wight Festival.

Prince said he was interested in performing a tribute to Hendrix, who played one of his most famous shows at the first Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970. Festival organiser John Giddings told Loaded (here), "I've suggested this to Prince for a couple of years. He has seemed quite excited by the idea. I'd love it to happen this year."

Giddings, who earlier tweeted a link to the Loaded story, admitted that it's tough to find out who arrange the singer's appearance with. Telling Loaded, "It’s very hard to know who Prince's representative is. He’s a bit elusive. But he's very ahead of the game and one of the most talented musicians the world has turned out. He's welcome to come any day of the week."

Friday night of the festival taking place at Newport's Seaclose Park from Thursday 9th until Sunday 12th June 2016 is co-headlined by Stereophonics, and Faithless, while the Sunday headliner is Queen with Adam Lambert, while elsewhere there's 40 years of punk with Iggy Pop, Adam Ant, The Damned, Buzzcocks, The Godfathers, and The Sex Pissed Dolls, plus Sigma, Jess Glynne, Pendulum (DJ set), The Corrs, Busted, Twin Atlantic, Half Moon Run, Gabrielle Aplin, The High Kings, Reverend And The Makers, The Wonder Stuff, Sixx Am, Lissie, The Family Rain, and Bjorn Tagemose silent film experience Gutterdammerung.

The Saturday headliners are yet to be announced, though Giddings says they have been booked. He added, "I can’t say who it is yet, because the contractual negotiations are like The West Wing."

He also ends any chance of The Spice Girls making an appearance. Despite three of the Girls, Melanie C, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton, being at the VIP enclosure at last year’s festival Giddings suggests they won't be taking to the stage this summer, explaining, "Whether The Spice Girls would play without Victoria, I don’t know. I’m friends with Geri, Melanie C and Emma, but whether they want to tour again is up to them, not me. Just because someone comes to the festival, that doesn’t mean they’re going to play it the year after. I’ve talked to them about playing the festival over the years, but you can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to."

Expect many more names to be announced for the festival's multiple stages.

For the line-up details as available see the Isle of Wight Music Festival line-up page.

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Tickets including booking fees are priced at £202.80 with camping, a student ticket is priced at £186.90, and a teen (aged 13-17 years) ticket is priced at £155.20. Children aged 12 and under can attend free of charge, and a campervan ticket was priced at £120 (and have sold out). Tickets without camping will be available at a later date.

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