04:39 PM ET 04/29/98South Carolina school cancels Indigo Girls concert

IRMO, S.C. (Reuters) - A South Carolina high school

principal has canceled a free concert by the Grammy Award

winning Indigo Girls after parents complained about the lesbian

singers, a school spokesman said Wednesday.

The Indigo Girls, singers Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, were

scheduled to give a free half-hour concert during a May 7 talent

show at Irmo High School north of Columbia, South Carolina.

``The principal canceled it. After it was made public that

this group was coming, he got a lot of phone calls from parents

and others raising various concerns ... one of which was the

sexuality issue,'' spokesman Buddy Price said.

Parents also complained about a rock and roll group playing

at a school assembly, he said, and the principal canceled the

concert because of protests that were ``polarizing'' thecommunity.

The concert was lined up by the school newspaper, The

Stinger, because of its participation in a national network of

student newspapers that interview contemporary musicians andreview new albums.

The Indigo Girls, who won a Grammy for best contemporary

folk album in 1989, currently are on a three-week tour of U.S.

colleges and high schools. The week before the Irmo concert, the

duo have also scheduled concerts at three Tennessee highschools.

The Indigo Girls released their latest album, ``Shaming of

the Sun'', last year, and will be featured in this summer's

Lilith Fair, a national tour headlined by female artists. ^REUTERS@