Rolling Stones to Perform in China

The Rolling Stones will hold their first-ever concert in China in April, promoters stated on Tuesday, three years after canceling a pair of shows on the mainland because of the SARS outbreak.

The rock gods will perform on Shanghai's Grand Stage, an 8,000-seat converted indoor stadium, on April 8, according to an announcement from Emma Entertainment. "The Rolling Stones first-ever concert in China, do not miss it,'' the company said on its web site.

The Stones had been slated to sing in Shanghai and Beijing in 2003, but the shows were canceled because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The concert is part of the current "A Bigger Bang'' tour, which has so far made well over $3 million in ticket sales. Ticket prices for their Shanghai concert ranged from $38 to $375, according to the Emma Entertainment site.
The band was also scheduled to play in Nagoya, Japan on April 4 and Sydney, Australia on April 11, according to the Rolling Stones official web site.

China's wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city, Shanghai has drawn a growing number of major international acts from Elton John to Mariah Carey and British hard rockers Deep Purple. The Rolling Stones are among the better known Western rock acts in China, with pirated versions of their greatest hits collection "Forty Licks'' widely available in shops there.