After three years since the stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair prior to Sugarland taking the stage, a legal settlement between the duo, Live Nation and the victims has come to head.
According to the Associated Press, Sugarland's Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles, along with Live Nation and 16 other defendants, will pay a total of $39 million to settle claims from the incident.
The tragedy happened prior to the band hitting the stage for their performance, with high winds threatening for severe weather to occur. Minutes before the show was scheduled to begin, the wind caused the stage to collapse, injuring hundreds of fans and killing seven people in attendance.
As part of the settlement, other lawsuits from the case were dismissed. A confidentiality clause prohibits disclosing how much each defendant is paying, but the money will be distributed to the plaintiffs based on severity of injury and whether the accident resulted in death.
This settlement allows the band to get back to working together sometime in the future. While no timetable on the reunion is imminent, we suspect that the duo is at the very least glad to have the tragic incident (which changed their lives forever) in their rearview windows.
Bush is expected to release his solo debut album in early 2015 while Nettles own album has garnered much praise from the industry.
jody carmen
Excuse me. Sugarland could have been injured due the gross negligence of the event. That they should have to pay is rather insulting. And now the audacity of continuing as a duo as a contingency of s?ettement
Matt Bjorke
Of course. But they're a part of the people with "money" so of course they and anyone they work with gets sued. Standard law stuff here. As for continuing as a duo, well, because of the lawsuit, they really couldn't make more money as a duo (outside of any pre-arranged commitments) because then that could be added into the payouts of a lawsuit. Now, they're free to continue as a duo, when and if the timing is right. This was NOT a contingency of the settlement. Just a statement of fact. The timing of the lawsuit was great for the band. They got to take time off, be with/start families AND have solo careers outside of the band. But come fall or 2016, the duo will be free to return to touring together, if that's what they want to do.