Akon has recounted a private booking that paid $1 million but drew only three attendees, during which he was asked to perform his 2005 hit “Lonely” repeatedly for the full set.
The singer shared the story on the Flagrant podcast with hosts Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh. Akon, whose full name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam, declined to identify the family, saying only that the engagement took place in the Middle East.
“It was funny because where it was in the Middle East,” he said. “I can’t say which family, but for the most part it was the craziest thing because they booked me for a million dollars, right? And [they] was like, you know, we want you to perform for the family. We have this huge event. My daughter’s the biggest fan.”
The production was extensive. Akon said the venue included a full stage with LED screens, lasers and professional lighting, along with a dressing room stocked to his complete rider. His entire crew was present, including sound and lighting technicians, a road manager and a business manager. He estimated the overall production cost at approximately $5 million.
“I go in and I’m getting ready for the show and everything else,” Akon continued. “It was interesting because I’m like, the castle is so big I don’t hear any music, right? So I’m like, ‘Wow, this is huge.’ They’re walking me to the show, they walk me through this huge hall but there’s only three chairs, monster stage, LED lights, lasers and everything, and I’m sitting on the side of the stage waiting for my audience.”
Three people arrived: the daughter, the son and the wife. The daughter sat in the center seat.
“Yo, three people came,” he recalled. “The daughter, the son, and the wife, and she’s sitting in the middle. She’s just cheesy and can’t wait.”
Akon began the performance. Midway through, the daughter stopped him.
“I walk out and it’s like, ‘Okay, this is my audience,’” he said. “Wow. So I go into my show and in the middle of it she said ‘No, stop. Stop.’ And I was like, ‘What’s going on, sweetheart? Everything okay?’ She’s like, ‘I want to hear Mr. Lonely.’ I said, ‘That’s it?’ and she said, ‘Yes. Can you just play that first?’ I said, ‘Okay, no problem.’ So we start singing Lonely. The song finished and she’s like, ‘Ahh, again!’ The whole hour. That’s all we performed. That’s it.”
Akon noted that his full team witnessed the set. “My whole team was there… We thought it was like a major show. Like I mean they agreed to everything on the rider, bro. That’s a million-dollar stage. And they set it up in a hall. It was crazy. It was an easy $5 million budget. In my mind, I’m like, I wish they would just told me specifics because I would have just saved them all that money, took half of that, and just went in the living room and sang with her like karaoke for an hour.”
“Lonely,” released as the third single from Akon’s 2004 debut album Trouble, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of his signature hits. The song’s music video has surpassed one billion views on YouTube.
Akon is currently on the co-headlining Nights Like This tour with Ne-Yo.
