Rolling Stones to make China debut

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- The Rolling Stones will hold their first-ever concert in China in April, Chinese promoters said Tuesday, three years after canceling a pair of shows on the mainland because of the SARS outbreak.

The rock greats will play Shanghai's Grand Stage, an 8,000-seat converted indoor stadium, on April 8, according to an announcement from Emma Entertainment.

"The Rolling Stones first-ever concert in China, do not miss it," the Beijing-based company said on its Web site. Tickets range from $38-$375, the site said.

The Stones had been slated to play Shanghai and Beijing in 2003, but the shows were canceled amid the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The April concert couldn't immediately be confirmed with the band's management, and wasn't listed on its Web site among the stops on its current "A Bigger Bang" tour, which has so far raked in well over $3 million in ticket sales.

The band is scheduled to play in Nagoya, Japan on April 4 and Sydney, Australia on April 11, according to the Rolling Stones official Web site.

China's wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city, Shanghai has drawn a growing number of major international acts from Elton John to Mariah Carey and British hard rockers Deep Purple.

The Rolling Stones are among the better known Western rock bands in China, with pirated versions of their greatest hits collection "Forty Licks" widely available in shops and on the streets.

lol after the millions of years these guys have been around, you would think they had played in China.