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Live Nation will require vaccines or negative Covid tests from artists, customers

“Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows," said Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment
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Live Nation Entertainment, one of the country's largest concert and ticketing companies, said it would require artists and fans at its venues and festivals to be fully vaccinated against Covid or show a negative test, a spokesperson said Friday.

“Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows, and as of October 4th we will be following the model we developed for Lollapalooza and requiring this for artists, fans and employees at Live Nation venues and festivals everywhere possible in the US," said Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment.

The rules will go into effect Oct. 4 "where permitted by law," Live Nation said.

Employees will have to be vaccinated and will not get a pass with a negative test result, Live Nation said.

"Beyond October 4th, all of our employees will also need to be vaccinated in order to visit one of our events, venues, or offices," the company said.

The model "was designed to encourage vaccination" and that 90 percent of Lollapalooza attendees in Chicago last month were fully vaccinated under the same policy, the company said.

"12% of fans said Lolla was actually their reason for getting vaccinated - which is a huge number with 400k attendees throughout the weekend," the spokesperson said in an email.

The mandate comes as the Delta variant drives a surge in cases across the United States.

Live Nation last week reported "second-quarter earnings that saw revenue climb to $575.9 million, up 677 percent from the same period last year when large gatherings were limited due to the rampant spread of coronavirus," CNBC reported.

“The momentum for the return to live events has been building every month with ticket sales and concert attendance pacing faster than expected, underscoring the strength and resiliency of the concert business and live events in general,” Rapino said during an earnings call last week.

On Thursday, AEG Presents made a similar announcement but allowed an exemption to the vaccine mandate for those under age 12 because they are not yet authorized to receive the shot. AEG will not require artists to be vaccinated.