Backlash over cathedral's plans to host 'grotesque' and 'distasteful' Michael Jackson 'tribute' night

A cathedral has been condemned for hosting a 'grotesque' and 'distasteful' event billed as a 'tribute' to shamed pop star Michael Jackson.

Audiences are being invited to Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff to 'celebrate the King of Pop's legendary career through a collection of his greatest hits'.

Tickets for Thursday's concert are priced at up to £51.50 for seats in the 'premium' area of the Anglican cathedral, parts of which date back to Norman times.

It is part of a series of candlelit string quartet performances to the Thriller hitmaker, with upcoming shows advertised at cathedrals in Yorkshire and Scotland.

They come amid resurgent interest in Jackson, who died in 2009, including a controversial biopic which this year smashed UK box office records, as well as Broadway musical MJ.

However the decision to allow a place of worship to be used to host a 'tribute' to a singer who has faced longstanding accusations of child abuse has met with a chorus of criticism.

In 1994, Jordan Chandler won a $23million settlement from Jackson after allegedly being molested at the age of 13 – claims the singer denied.

But nine years later he admitted to interviewer Martin Bashir that he had shared his bed with children, defending his actions as 'loving'.

Despite multiple allegations of child sexual abuse, Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff is hosting a concert billed as a 'tribute' to Michael Jackson (pictured during his HIStory world tour in 1996)

The historic cathedral is the venue for a candlelit string quartet performance which promises to 'celebrate the King of Pop's legendary career through a collection of his greatest hits'

In 2005 Jackson was acquitted of child molestation at a trial in Santa Barbara, California.

Yet abuse allegations have continued to swirl since his death from a drug overdose four years later at the age of 50.

Dr Gavin Ashenden, a former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II and frequent critic of secular events being held in churches, said Jackson's past meant it was 'particularly distasteful' for a cathedral to host the tribute.

'You could hardly find anything in Christian teaching that's more clear than what Jesus said about the revulsion towards the abuse of children,' he told the Daily Mail.

'Any association between a cathedral and Michael Jackson is grotesque, and the bishops and deans ought to know better.

'By endorsing Jackson's work, it is hard to escape the sense that the Church is choosing to 'grey out' the paedophilia. And that in itself is a serious dereliction of moral responsibility.'

Dan Reed, whose acclaimed 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland portrayed Jackson as a manipulative paedophile who allegedly raped two pre-pubescent boys for years, said he was 'flabbergasted' that the singer was being celebrated in a place of worship.

'Given the past failings of the Church in investigating its own abuse scandals, how can it celebrate the life of a known sexual predator who hurt a great many children?' the film-maker asked.

Critics have slammed the association between a cathedral and the singer as 'grotesque' and 'distasteful' in light of the longstanding abuse allegations

'Even if you don't believe Jackson's accusers, this is a man who spent years sleeping with young boys. Is this behaviour which the Church endorses?

'Holding a tribute to Michael Jackson in a cathedral is an affront to all those he hurt and an astonishing faux pas.'

Meanwhile Andrew RT Davies, a member of the Senedd and former leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said: 'This event is entirely inappropriate and should not be taking place.

'Llandaff Cathedral is a building of deep religious significance – it should not be degraded like this.

'It's disrespectful to use the cathedral for this purpose and I hope organisers will think again.'

Advertising for Thursday's concert tells how attendees can 'rediscover Michael Jackson's unforgettable music through the warm glow of candlelight'.

It adds that the 'concert experience' is a 'tribute' and 'not associated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the artist, their heirs or their official representatives'.

The 'Tribute to Michael Jackson' show is also being advertised this month at Sheffield Cathedral and St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Other acts whose music is being given the candlelight treatment include Oasis, Fleetwood Mac, Coldplay and Olivia Dean.

In response to the criticism, the Llandaff diocese – one of six which constitute the Church in Wales, part of the worldwide Anglican communion – said the event was 'one of a series of candlelit concerts' and highlighted that it was billed as a 'tribute'.

In September plans for concerts organised by a London nightclub at St Paul's Cathedral were branded 'an insult to Lord Nelson's memory' by the family of the famed naval commander, who is buried at the historic London landmark.

Meanwhile last year York Minster sparked uproar after hosting a concert by 'symphonic heavy metal' band Plague of Angels.