Buju Banton - Contributed

Another concert on Buju Banton's North American tour to promote his latest album Rasta Got Soul was cancelled on the weekend.

Gay-rights groups in Columbus, Ohio, pressured the organisers through emails, phone calls and Facebook rallies to cancel the October 3 concert at the Lifestyles Community Pavillion.

The Columbus Dispatch quoted the gay-rights groups, which included Equality Ohio and Stonewall Democrats of Central Ohio, as saying: "The targeted audience for his message and the proximity to the OSU (Ohio State University) campus neighbourhood creates a tangible threat to the safety and well-being particularly of the gay and lesbian community in Victorian Village."

PromoWest Productions, which booked the venue for the show organisers, confirmed the October 3 cancellation.

This cancellation follows seven in late August by promoters AEG Live/Goldenvoice and Live Nation. The concerts were scrapped in the wake of myriad phone calls, email messages and Facebook notes objecting to the tour.

Buju Banton reponded by starting his 'We Support Buju Banton' group on Facebook.

Two concerts on the weekend are believed to have gone ahead as planned in Philadelphia and Maryland. THE STAR also received unconfirmed reports that two more concert dates were cancelled - October 2 in Cincinatti and October 4 in Minneapolis.

Buju Banton has been facing opposition from gay-activists group in North America and Europe for many years because of the lyrics of his 1992 single Boom Bye Bye.

Earlier this year, iTunes removed controversial murder music by Jamaican artistes from its North American markets. Boom Bye Bye by Buju Banton, Chi-Chi Man by T.O.K and Log On by Elephant Man were pulled from iTunes stores and website.