Why T.I. Just Retired From Performing Live

Rapper T.I. is retiring from live performances at the end of the year. Last week, the embattled musician joined Atlanta radio station 96.1 The Beat for an interview where he said the station’s year-end Jingle Ball would be his final concert. The 44-year-old said: “I do not need the money anymore, and I will not be performing. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

T.I. – whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. – is slated to headline The Beat’s Jingle Ball in Atlanta on Dec. 19, 2024, and he says it will be his “last working gig.” The show’s co-hosts Sean Ferrari Simmons and BT were shocked by this pronouncement, but Harris continued: “I don’t want people to pay me to hop around and sweat for their entertainment anymore.” Harris has plenty of other business interests off-stage to keep him busy, but he also has sexual abuse allegations that are still unresolved as far as the public knows.

Harris kicked off his music career as a teenager, selling his own mixtapes out of the trunk of his car. He caught the attention of record executives and released his debut studio album I’m Serious in 2001. He had steady success as a solo act over the years that followed, peaking with his 2008 album Paper Trail, which went quadruple-platinum. His most recent album, The L.I.B.R.A., hit the Billboard charts as well.

As for his collaborations, Harris was joined on The Beat by fellow rapper Young Dro, who is a part of his group Pimp Squad Click. When asked if he would still perform with the group, Harris said: “Of course. I’m going to answer the phone to tell them that I will not be performing.”

Behind the scenes, Harris has had success as a producer and a mentor for other performers, along with his wife Tameka “Tiny” Cottle, who was a member of the group Xscape. They helped Cottle’s daughter Zonnique cultivate the group OMG Girlz, which just earned them a major windfall last week. They won a lawsuit against MGA Entertainment, whose “L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G.” doll line was found to have violated OMG Girlz’s intellectual property rights. They were awarded $71 million.

At the same time, Harris and Cottle have been out of the public eye in recent years while a slew of sexual abuse allegations against them have surfaced. In 2021, over 30 women and at least one man accused the couple of forced drugging, kidnapping, intimidation and sexual assault over the previous two decades. Harris and Cottle denied the allegations, but at least one criminal investigation was opened in Georgia. More recently, a new sexual assault lawsuit was filed against the couple back in January of 2024.

Harris continues to deny any wrongdoing in those cases, and he did not reference them while announcing his retirement from live performances. It’s unclear what comes next for the rapper.