Rolling Stones, The Who deny signing on for Live Earth concerts

The Rolling Stones and the Who will not be performing at London's 'Live Earth' Concert on July 7th at Wembley Stadium. Despite unofficial reports that bands would be playing at the Al Gore-sponsored concert for environmental change, both have issued statements stating otherwise. Reuters reported the Stones' management explained that since the band would be performing the previous night in Rome, and they no longer play consecutive nights, the gig was out of the question.

Pete Townshend posted on his official blog (petetownshend-whohe.blogspot.com) that, "Contrary to reports, the Who will not be appearing as we are playing in Denmark on July 7th."

Artists who have already been announced to play the Wembley show are Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Foo Fighters, Melissa Etheridge, Duran Duran, John Mayer, American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, rapper Snoop Dogg, R&B singers Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend, and country stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

Both the Stones and the Who will be zig-zagging across Europe this Spring and Summer, with the Who playing a number of outdoor festivals during the upcoming leg. Roger Daltrey says that multi-act festivals are the best way for the Who to reach new fans: "Festivals are incredibly important for reaching a young audience. And that's what keeps our music alive, is when young people pick up on it. Because the things that Pete wrote about back in the '60s seem to resonate with young people today. I mean, they're such personal things. They're not kind of blocked down to a time period."

The Who's European tour kicks off on May 16th in Lisbon, Portugal. They'll be on the road through July.

The Rolling Stones' European dates begin on June 5th in Werchter, Belgium. Their tour wraps up in late August.
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