Texas City Pays Michigan-born Rocker Ted Nugent To Stay Away

-1b174c721ca56100.jpg

Ted Nugents performs during the Thrills in the Irish Hills festival at Jackson County Fairgrounds in July 2012.

(J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

JACKSON, MI – Ted Nugent is in the news for an odd reason once again.

The Michigan-born rocker, outdoorsman and political activist’s representatives had been in negotiations with the city of Longview, Texas, to perform at a Fourth of July celebration. City officials opted to pull the plug on the concert, despite the decision costing the city $16,250.

Negotiations were far enough along for the promoter and booking agent to demand the city pay at least half of Nugent’s $32,000 booking fee, which officials agreed to do.

City spokesperson Shawn Hara told the Longview News-Journal why the decision was made.

“(There were) a variety of reasons. Cost, structure, is it the right musical act for this type of event – a city-sponsored, family-oriented overall event,” Hara said.

Nugent received plenty of negative attention in February for calling President Barack Obama a "subhuman mongrel" during a campaign swing for Texas gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott. Nugent later apologized.

Ironically, the last time Nugent, a former Jackson County resident, performed in Jackson he was part of an unusual concert situation.

Nugent was booked to headline the first of two concerts at the Thrills in the Irish Hills festival at Jackson County Fairgrounds in July 2012, which he did.

The concert featuring Nugent and former Kiss member Ace Frehley sold so poorly, however, the promoter attempted to renegotiate terms with Lynyrd Skynyrd, which was scheduled to headline a concert the following evening.

The band declined to lower the agreed-upon performance fee and didn’t show up, leaving the few thousand fans who did purchase tickets disgruntled and frustrated.

Nugent still owns 300 acres of property in western Jackson County, which is used as a hunting ranch, known as Sunrize Acres, and a part-time residence for the rocker and his family.