Citing illness, Rapper Jeremih abruptly canceled his Frontier Fiesta performance a little more than two hours before he was set to take the Bud Light Stage on Saturday night.
“We were told that he has fallen ill,” chair Andrew Bahlmann said. “Unfortunately it’s nothing anyone can control, and it’s just an unfortunate circumstance.”
Attendees did not react kindly to the news that the chart-topper would be missing his performance.
“I was looking forward to it,” said nutrition junior Amy Isadahomen. “Now I feel like I kind of just wasted my time.”
Some said they were attending Frontier Fiesta — once billed the “Greatest College Show on Earth” during UH’s early years — exclusively to see Jeremih.
“We like his music, and I feel like I wasted my time because he didn’t even show up,” chemical engineering alumna Bhavini Patel said.
Typically, Bahlmann said, the University allows Frontier Fiesta to negotiate contracts with performers that pay out after their concert or set. The concerts are paid for with student fees, and though Jeremih’s band and DJ are still set to take the stage, the contract will not be paid in full.
The Student Program Board announced Jeremih as the headlining artist for Frontier Fiesta on March 16, just over a week before he was scheduled to take the stage.