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Eagles of Death Metal lead singer, Jesse Hughes. Michel Euler/PA
anniversary concert

Eagles of Death Metal singer denies trying to enter Sting Bataclan gig

The Bataclan re-opened on Saturday, a year after the terrorist attacks.

THE FRONTMAN OF the US rock group on stage in Paris when jihadists massacred 90 people a year ago yesterday denied claims he was barred entry to the show marking the first anniversary of the killings.

Management of the Bataclan venue said they prevented two members of the Eagles of Death Metal, including lead singer Jesse Hughes, from entering the Sting gig on Saturday night.

“They came, I threw them out — there are things you can’t forgive,” the venue’s co-director Jules Frutos said late on Saturday, referring to remarks Hughes made during an interview in March 2016 suggesting Muslim staff at the Bataclan might have cooperated with the attackers.

The attack on the Bataclan was one of a series of assaults carried out by jihadists across Paris on 13 November, 2015 in which 130 people died.

But Hughes reiterated the band manager’s earlier comments that he had not tried to enter the hall at all.

“I didn’t want to see the show, I just wanted to see the place (Bataclan) open. But I never actually tried to go into the show. I’ve never even met the dude (Frutos)… I don’t know what he’s talking about,” he said.

Controversy

The controversy, however, did not prevent Hughes attending a ceremony in memory of the victims yesterday.

“I wouldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to be here,” he told reporters. “This city is a shining example of really the best possible way to react to something that’s awful and evil.

“I don’t think I would have gotten through it (the anniversary) if I wasn’t here,” he added.

Eagles of Death Metal initially enjoyed wide sympathy in the wake of the attacks.

But Hughes’ provocative remarks were strongly rejected by the Bataclan which said the club’s security — far from costing lives — had likely saved hundreds.

Two prominent French festivals meanwhile cancelled appearances by the band scheduled for August.

Hughes, a rare right-wing rocker and supporter of US president-elect Donald Trump, also said without evidence that Muslims had celebrated outside the hall during the siege there.

“I saw Muslims celebrating in the street during the attack. I saw it with my own eyes. In real time! How did they know what was going on? There must have been coordination,” he told Taki’s Magazine, a publication of Greek-born conservative commentator Taki Theodoracopulos that has faced criticism for its writings on race.

The singer apologised for his March comments later the same month, saying that his allegations were “absurd” and the result of trauma.

© AFP 2016

Read: A year on from the Paris attacks – what do we know about those who killed 127 people?

Read: Sting reopens Bataclan on eve of Paris attacks anniversary as Eagles of Death Metal refused entry

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