Vienna, Sep 11 (DPA) What had been billed as the 'sole worldwide' Michael Jackson tribute concert in Vienna later this month was cancelled Friday, with a no-show by top performers proving the killer.

Concert promoter Georg Kindel and Jackson's brother Jermaine announced that the concert would instead be staged next June at London's Wembley Stadium, Austria's APA news agency reported.

The Vienna concert, to have been staged in front of the Austrian capital's magnificent Schoenbrunn Palace, failed to pull top stars such as Madonna and U2 as had been speculated.

Then, Chris Browne, Mary J. Blige and Natalie Cole - all reported to be ready to appear - had distanced themselves from the event by Thursday.

Vienna city authorities added a final blow by withdrawing 600,000 euros ($876,000) in financing, saying they were unhappy about the lack of top artists.

Kindel blamed the embarrassing reversal on lack of preparation time for the Sep 26 event and what he called negative reporting by the Austrian media.

Jermaine Jackson was, meanwhile, quoted by APA as saying that London was now considered the ideal location because that was the city where Michael Jackson had planned his comeback concerts.

The attraction of Vienna, he had said earlier, had been Schoenbrunn, since his brother loved such settings so much. But, he said Friday: 'If we're not wanted in Vienna, we'll go to London.