Joe's Japan Shows Get Squashed

03/23/2000 12:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(3/23/00, 12 p.m. ET) - Mariah Carey originally scheduled R&B sensation Joe as the sole opening act for her Asian tour, since Joe had dueted with her on "Thank God I've Found You." Joe was on a plane to Japan earlier this month when Mariah's handlers dropped bad news on his manager, Kedar Massenburg -- Joe's stage time was cut from 45 minutes to 25 minutes to accommodate a set by rapper Da Brat.

However, Joe's dancers had already choreographed a 45-minute routine, and his backup music was on 45-minute DAT tapes, all of which would have been impossible to change at the last minute.

Massenburg got the news while Joe was still in the air and notified the singer by the time his plane stopped in San Francisco, telling Joe to come back to New York. Joe and Chico DeBarge, with whom he was traveling, ended up returning to New York and missing an opportunity to open for one of the world's biggest stars.

Massenburg confirmed the story to the New York Post and insists that Joe, who is vacationing in Europe, has no hard feelings. He says that after Joe's show was cut, "I didn't think it made sense to go over there, so I told him to come home. In the end, it all worked out. We saved money on hotels, and he came back to New York and finished his album." Massenburg adds, "Joe loves Mariah. We have a great relationship with her." Joe's still-untitled album will be out later this year.

-- Curtis Waller, New York

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