Shaggy and friends

The Tropixs (Kingston, Jamaica) – There will be no staging of ‘Shaggy & Friends’ charity concert for 2020.

The Dancehall superstar has announced that the biennial charity concert will not be staged next year due to his heavy tour schedule.

According to Shaggy, Its a big disappointment for him as he just does not have the time available. He went on to point out that staging an event of that magnitude require a significant amount of time and energy.

“The truth is it just won’t happen next year as we would have liked it to. Shaggy & Friends is a huge undertaking which takes months of planning and literally consumes our lives. With all that is happening now with my career including back to back tours and my work on the live TV version of The Little Mermaid, I am booked solid all the way into March of next year. So, unfortunately I really don’t have the time to wrap my head around planning the event this year. Yes I have a team , but quite a bit of what happens for that one night rest on my shoulders and those close to me. The Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation will continue its work with the Bustamante Hospital, but we will just have to find other creative ways to bring the vision to life without the effort and work required for a concert of that nature,” he explained.

The Grammy-winning artiste would go on to say that he is still considering alternate ways to raise funds for his pet project, including a proposed gala dinner and product endorsements.

The 2018 staging of the event managed to raise over $100 million for the children’s hospital, but according to the entertainer the facility is always in need of equipment thus the work must continue.

“We work off a needs list provided by the hospital. We raise the funds, order the equipment, bring it into the country through the international charity Food For the Poor and deliver to Bustamante. Everything is documented and therefore we are ready for any audit that anyone wants to bring in our direction. The last time we really wanted to raise funds to build an ICU (intensive care unit) but the truth is we have no land space. I did not really wish to get into the politics and bureaucracy needed for us to source a plot of land from the hospital’s neighbour, the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force), so I decided to stick to our core purpose which is providing the much-needed equipment for the hospital,” Shaggy said.

Shaggy has been successfully hosting the charity concert since 2009, with some of the biggest names in music gracing it’s stage including; Sting, Lauryn Hill, Macy Gray, Deniece Williams, En Vogue, NeYo, Boyz II Men, Wyclef Jean, and countless local stars.