Al Gore's looking to make it one hot summer.
The eco-friendly former veep on Thursday announced a daylong series of international all-star concerts for July aimed at raising awareness about the threat of climate change. The event, dubbed Live Earth, will be modeled after 2005's Live 8 extravaganza.
Gore's 24-hour event will be held July 7, aka 07/07/07, in seven cities on six continents—including Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, London and cities to be determined in Brazil, Japan and the United States. (Apparently Antarctica venues are booked solid that time of year.)
The concerts will feature over 100 musical acts. Already on board are Jon Bon Jovi, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snoop Dogg, the Black Eyed Peas, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, the Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, John Mayer, Damien Rice, Duran Duran, Corrine Bailey Rae, Snow Patrol, John Legend, Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Fall Out Boy, Keane, Korn, Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Mana, AFI, Paolo Nutini, Bloc Party and Pharrell Williams.
Organizers aim to broadcast Live Earth to more than 2 billion people across the globe via television, film, radio and the Internet.
Additional performers will be announced in the coming months, as will celebrities, athletes and government leaders who will make presentations during the shows. The artists will donate their time in an effort to promote green living.
Gore, who was recently nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work to check global warming, said the shows will feature the same themes he addresses in his Oscar-nominated documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. That includes the benefits of carbon-neutral living and other innovative approaches to reduce the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere blamed for heating up the planet.
Gore made the announcement at Los Angeles' California Science Center flanked by Pharrell Williams, Cameron Diaz and Kevin Wall, the Emmy-winning worldwide executive producer of Live 8.
Live Earth will kick off an initiative called Save Our Selves—the Campaign for a Climate in Crisis, founded by Wall. Money raised from the concerts will help support SOS and Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection.
"In order to solve the climate crisis, we have to reach billions of people," said Gore. "We are launching SOS and Live Earth to begin a process of communication that will mobilize people all over the world to take action. The climate crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement. We hope to jump-start that movement right here, right now, and take it to a new level on July 7.
"We have to get the message of urgency and hope out."