Sinéad Sinks Gay Music Fest

Tue., Jul. 3, 2001 10:30 AM PDT by Marcus Errico

When it comes to staging a festival, nothing compares 2 having Sin?ad O'Connor on board.

That's what the folks behind the first Wotapalava tour have learned the hard way. Organizers have pulled the plug on the gay-themed tour, which was supposed to launch next week, after being unable to find a suitable headliner to replace O'Connor, who bowed out of the fest last month due to "unforseeable family commitments."

Apparently, those commitments included getting married. The singer, who in the past has ripped up a photo of the Pope, become a priest in a renegade Catholic sect and declared herself a lesbian, has decided to give marriage a shot again and become engaged to a British journalist (the two plan to tie the knot next year, he says).

O'Connor, who was married once before the whole priest-lesbian phase and has two children from previous relationships, was the biggest draw for Wotapalava, the brainchild of Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant. With O'Connor gone at such a late date, Tennant and his fellow organizers scrambled to find a name substitute, but failed, so they'll wait a year and try again.

"We have made this decision with the greatest of reluctance," Tennant says in a statement, "but it seems impossible to proceed without a complete lineup of artists. We look forward to coming to America next year."

Along with O'Connor and Tennant's Pet Shop Boys, Wotapalava was to feature the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Soft Cell and the Magnetic Fields. It was billed as the first-ever "gay-friendly" tour, featuring both gay and straight artists who supported homosexual rights.

"Wotapalava is a celebration of the freedom to be what you want to be and about having the power to live as you want without fear or discrimination," said Tennant when the tour was announced. "The diversity of the performers contradicts any stereotyping, we are not defined solely by our sexuality. Being homosexual is an important part of our lives, but only one part of it."

The tour was supposed to kick off July 13 in Miami and wrap August 11 in Houston. All told it would have made stops at 18 North American cities.

Fans with tickets can get refunds wherever they bought them, organizers said. More information is available on the official Website, wotapalava.com.