JAY-Z RUMORS PLAGUE GLASTONBURY GIG: Organizer denies talk of rapper pulling out due to low ticket sales.

Organizers for the annual Glastonbury Festival (June 27-29) are denying reports in London’s Sun newspaper that headliner Jay-Z is planning to cancel his appearance because of low ticket sales.

While tickets for the festival usually sell out in hours, more than 30,000 of the 137,500 tickets available remained unsold as of Sunday afternoon. Critics are blaming sluggish sales on the decision to book Jay-Z alongside more traditional rock/alternative acts Muse and The Verve.

The Sun reported that Jigga wanted to pull out because he's angered by critics who feel he's the wrong choice for the legendary festival. There was also talk that organizers were scrambling to book Prince as a replacement since he made such a big splash last year during his 21-night residency at London's O2 Arena.

The rumor picked up steam when it was announced that Jay-Z would also be playing London’s 02 Wireless Music Festival the following week, on July 3.

Michael Eavis, who has run the Glastonbury Festival for more than 30 years, called the Sun's report "malicious," "nasty" and "totally unfounded."

Speaking to XFM, he said: "I'm not sure where they got that from, probably from the people that were doing a show in London the following week [The O2 Wireless Festival] because they were trying to sell tickets for their show.

"That didn't come from the Americans [Jay-Z's management] at all because we checked with them on Sunday and the Americans confirmed with me on Sunday they were definitely doing it [the festival]."

Jay-Z is scheduled to headline the Pyramid Stage on the festival's opening night, Friday June 27. Tickets went on sale again this week