Jennifer Lopez has canceled her upcoming performance at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in São Paulo, Brazil.
FIFA officials have been vague about the cause of Lopez's bowing out of the Thursday night concert, citing only "production issues" in public statements,
The New York Times reported.
"Regretfully Jennifer Lopez will not be attending this year's World Cup opening ceremonies," read a statement
released Sunday to CNN by Lopez's representatives.
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Lopez, whose music career took off with her 1999 hit single "If You Had My Love," was scheduled to appear alongside Cuban-American rapper Pitbull and Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte. The trio were set to perform "We Are One" before Brazil's kickoff against Croatia. "We Are One" is the official song of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Because the song features only a few lines of Portuguese, the dominant language in Brazil, some have criticized the song choice, saying it's mostly English and Spanish lyrics aren't sufficiently representative of Brazil.
The World Cup song is a longstanding tradition, dating back to the 1960's. One of the official songs, "World Cup Willie," was dedicated to the tournament's then-mascot, a lion. In recent years, a number of high-profile recording artists have produced songs for the tournament, including Shakira in 2006, Ricky Martin in 1998, and Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates in 1994.
"I'm honored to join Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte at the FIFA World Cup to bring the world together," Pitbull said at the time of the song's release. "I truly believe that this great game and the power of music will help unify us, because we are best when we are one."
Considering Lopez's cancellation, it appears the power of music was not enough.
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