Live Nation Serious About Vaccinations

• As the live-music industry begins to resume operations while still under the threat of COVID-19 and its variants — and with half of the country still unvaccinated — Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino has issued a directive that all of the company’s shows will henceforth require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for entry, and effective October 4, “all employees in the U.S. [must] be vaccinated to enter one of our events, venues or offices — with limited exceptions as may be required by law.

The document, which was published in Variety, reads, in part, “Our teams have worked together to put new processes in place so that artists doing shows with Live Nation in the U.S. can require all attendees and staff to be fully vaccinated or show a negative test result for entry, where permitted by law. We believe this is a great model, and we have already implemented this successfully at many major shows including Lollapalooza. We know people are eager to return to live events and we hope these measures encourage even more people to get vaccinated. That is the number one thing anyone can do to take care of those around them and we are encouraging as many shows as possible to adopt this model.”

With regard to Live Nation employees, Rapino’s memo stated, “In support of this model and to continue leading by example, we will be requiring that all employees in the U.S. be vaccinated to enter one of our events, venues or offices — with limited exceptions as may be required by law. This requirement will go into effect October 4, when our offices are set to reopen their doors for flex work, and to allow on-site staff a few weeks to get vaccinated if they haven’t already… we are providing an extra paid day off for every dose so you can schedule appointments easily. We’ve seen great vaccination enthusiasm among our staff so far, and we want to ensure we’re taking every step possible to keep you all safe.”