For a mere €500, Irish fans get to ‘meet and greet’ Kendrick Lamar
THE most ‘humble’ man in rap music has no issue with charging fans almost €500 to meet him at his Dublin gig next year.
US rapper Kendrick Lamar – who is going out with his highschool sweetheart Whitney Alford – is known for his low-key lifestyle and charity work.
Despite his vast fortune, he lives in a modest (by millionaire rapper standards) $524,000 (€450,000) house an hour’s drive outside LA.
‘I ain’t rockin’ no more designer s***,’ he raps in one of his songs.
However, despite his charitable prominence, his fans do not merit his goodwill, it seems.
Instead, they can pay €496 for the privilege of meeting the modest man when he performs at the 3Arena in February.
It is not unusual for performers to offer ‘meet and greet VIP packages’ to their shows to allow their fans to fork out even more cash to spend a few minutes in their esteemed company.
But how do Kendrick Lamar’s meet-and-greet prices compare with other artist’s offerings?
In 2011, Britney Spears had fans cough up €600 to meet her at the same venue, then the O2.
In 2013, former Boyzone star Ronan Keating charged fans €365 to meet him at his Belfast gig.
On the lower end of the scale, for €220 you can meet and greet former Westlife star, now turned solo artist, Shane Filan at his Olympia gig on October 19.
If that doesn’t do it for you, you can still purchase ‘meet and greet’ tickets to see 90s pop act Steps at their 3Arena show on November 13 for €291.
Last year, arguably the biggest pop star in the world, Justin Bieber, was charging fans $2,000 for a meet and greet. However, much to the dismay of true Beliebers, he cancelled the meet and greets mid-tour, citing mental health and security reasons.
‘Love u guys.. I’m going to be cancelling my meet and greets. I enjoy meeting such incredible people, but I end up feeling so drained and unhappy. Want to make people smile and happy but not at my expense,’ Bieber told his legion of disappointed fans in an Instagram post at the time.
However, the most expensive meet-and-greet that you are likely to find in the coming months comes from a different type of celebrity – Hillary Clinton.
The failed US presidential candidate is charging $3,000 for two front-row seats with meetand-greet at Hillary Live at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal.
The cheapest seats in the house start at $90 (€77) as she tours to promote her political memoir, What Happened.