Live 8 concert plans announced
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In a press conference held at 13:00 UTC on Tuesday, Bob Geldof, Elton John, and Harvey Goldsmith announced Live 8, a set of simultaneous free concerts to be held in Philadelphia, London, Paris, Rome, and Berlin on July 2, 2005, to raise awareness of Make Poverty History, a campaign to get the richest nations to cancel debt and increase aid to developing countries. The concerts are scheduled to occur just before the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, from July 6 to July 8. "20 years ago, at the time of the original Live Aid concert, I was a se
In a press conference held at 13:00 UTC on Tuesday, Bob Geldof, Elton John, and Harvey Goldsmith announced Live 8, a set of simultaneous free concerts to be held in Philadelphia, London, Paris, Rome, and Berlin on July 2, 2005, to raise awareness of Make Poverty History, a campaign to get the richest nations to cancel debt and increase aid to developing countries. The concerts are scheduled to occur just before the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, from July 6 to July 8.
"20 years ago, at the time of the original Live Aid concert, I was a self-obsessed drug addict.", began Elton John. "I've grown up since". He then described the aim of the concerts to raise awareness in the richest countries of the world of the plights of the poorest, and how his work on global AIDS awareness had impressed upon him the lack of awareness and ignorance that exists. "The Prime Minister of South Africa thinks that AIDS is something that is caused by poverty. I wish!"
Bob Geldof thanked the corporations who had already come forward to sponsor the event, including the BBC and AOL. In mentioning AOL he said that "20 years ago, almost nobody had a mobile 'phone", hinting at the possibility of AOL broadcasting the concerts to mobile telephones. Geldof also thanked The Prince's Trust, which had already booked Hyde Park for July 2, for stepping aside in favour of Live 8.
Line-up
Although the line-up is not finalized, the presence of several artists was announced.
In London
PINK FLOYD
U2
The Rolling Stones
Paul McCartney
Coldplay
Madonna
Sting
Robbie Williams
Dido
Elton John
Keane
Annie Lennox Mariah Carey
Muse
Scissor Sisters
Joss Stone
Stereophonics
REM
Velvet Revolver
Bob Geldof
The Killers
The Cure
Snow Patrol
In Berlin
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Lauryn Hill
Brian Wilson
A-ha Bap
Die Toten Hosen
Peter Maffay
In Philadelphia
Will Smith (Host)
Bon Jovi
Dave Matthews Band
Stevie Wonder
P. Diddy
Maroon 5 Jay-Z
Sarah McLachlan
Rob Thomas
Keith Urban
50 Cent
Kaiser Chiefs
In Paris
Jamiroquai
Youssou N'Dour
Yannick Noah
Placebo
Craig David
Andrea Bocelli Calo Gero
Kyo
Axelle Red
Johnny Halliday
Manu Chao
Renaud
In Rome
Duran Duran
Faith Hill
Tim McGraw
Irene Grandi
Jovanotti Nek
Laura Pausini
Vasco Rossi
Zucchero
Sources & reporting note
Licensed archive reporting by Wikinews contributors. Text: Public domain (https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Copyright). Original source date retained. 411 has not independently verified this archive report.
Read the source: Wikinews ↗Source published 31 May 2005, 05:30 am IST
