Diddy is out and Usher is in at the Roots Picnic
The Atlanta R&B star replaces the Bad Boy producer and impresario on the bill of the 2023 festival, coming up on June 2-4.
The lineup at next weekend’s Roots Picnic at the Mann Center in Fairmount Park has been shaken up.
Diddy, the impresario and performer Sean Combs, was scheduled to appear with the Roots as a main headliner, along with Ms. Lauryn Hill, Lil Uzi Vert, and Dave Chappelle. The comedian will perform along with the Roots on June 2 at the Wells Fargo Center in a Friday night show, that expands the event to three days for the first time.
But now Diddy is out. Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson made the announcement on Wednesday morning on Instagram, saying that Combs had canceled “due to unforeseen circumstances.” That means there will be no array of Combs-produced hits performed with the Roots in a ‘this is your life’-style medley, as has become a trademark of previous Picnics, such as the 2022 set the band played with Mary J. Blige.
Instead, the Diddy slot — which was likely to occupy the closing Saturday June 3 night slot on the Picnic’s main stage — will be occupied by Usher, who recently completed a leg of his My Way residency at Dolby Live in Las Vegas and is about to start a new one June 16.
In making the announcement, Questlove said: “But not to be outdone, we just wanted to say: We got you, Philadelphia. We are proud to announce, coming to Philadelphia fresh from his record-breaking residency in Vegas ... the one and only Usher. That’s right: Usher is coming to the Roots Picnic.”
It will be the second time Usher has played the Picnic. In 2016, when the fest was still being staged at the Festival Pier on Penn’s Landing, he headlined backed by the Roots. Will he also perform with the band behind him at this year’s Picnic? That’s unclear. Only his name — identified as “Special Added Guest” — is found in the spot on the festival flyer previously occupied by ‘Diddy & The Roots.”
More info is at rootspicnic.com.