Live 8 Gathers 100 Rock Stars in Outcry Against Poverty Ahead of G8
Dozens of the world’s leading musical performers will come together this summer for five separate concerts in five different cities for Live 8. The huge event will take place on 2nd July as part of the Make Poverty History Campaign backed by Sir Bob Geldof, who also organised the historical Live Aid in 1985 – a charity fundraising event to aid the Ethiopia famine.
More than 150,000 people are expected to join the event at Hyde Park, for what is set to be London’s largest free concert in history.
Stars attending the event are backing the huge awareness event, which has the purpose of relieving poverty and debt in poor nations across Africa and the world.
The seemingly endless list of musical stars backing the event and rumoured to join the concerts across the five cities.
In London, celebrities such as Sting, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Dido, Coldplay, Sir Elton John, Robbie Williams, Sir Paul McCartney, Keane, Snow Patrol, Joss Stone, Stereophonics and REM with more acts likely to be announced.
In Philadelphia Stevie Wonder will headline the event; in Berlin Brian Wilson; in Rome Duran Duran will play, where as in Paris Jamiroquai is set to appear.
Live 8 is being promoted as ‘one concert across two continents in five cities with 100 rock stars’. The event has been scheduled to coincide with the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland – which is a gathering of 8 of the world’s most powerful leaders running the richest nations on the planet.
The event’s plans were unveiled yesterday by Geldof who passionately said that Live 8 was "a unique opportunity for Britain to do something unparalleled in the world."
Geldof continued referring to the Live Aid concert in 1985 – a charity event for Africa Aid: "I couldn’t see how anything could possibly be better than that glorious day 20 years ago, which was almost perfect in what it achieved. But it seemed to me we could gather together again – this time not for charity but for political justice."
The lead singer of the Snow Patrol, Gary Lightbody said, "It’s very important that we all stand up and say ‘No More!’ We must tell the leaders going into the G8 Summit to make the right decision and make poverty history and drop the debt.
"This is potentially more important than the first Live Aid – it is actually changing government policy rather than just raising money."
After the plans for the Live 8 event was unveiled yesterday, Downing Street released a statement that Tony Blair planned to discuss three main issues when he meets US President Bush next week: Africa, climate change, Iraq and the Middle East.
The Make Poverty History campaign has also organised a protest set for Edinburgh next month ahead of the G8 Summit. Geldof reported yesterday that he hoped that 1 million people would turn out for the march to further increase the cries to the world leaders.
The campaign focuses on 100% debt relief, increasing financial aid by US$50 billion a year, and fairer trade rules for some of the poorest nations in the world.
Poor countries currently owe £287 billion in debts, a majority of which is owed to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The plight of poor nations can be clearly seen through the typical story of Malawi, which spends more on repaying debts than it does on health care, even though one-in-five of the population has been diagnosed as being HIV-positive. In addition, Zambia’s £14 million it pays back each year in debts far surpasses the amount it spends on education for its children.
The Hyde Park gig in London will distribute its 150,000 free tickets through a special text message lottery. At 8a.m. on Monday a multiple choice question will be broadcast on TV and Radio and published in newspapers. The public will have 7 days to respond to the question, after which a computer will randomly select the winners who will each receive a pair of tickets.
The event is set to be broadcast on the BBC, and giant screens will also be set up in large cities across the country for people to gather and watch.
