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Mandela All-Star Benefit Scrapped
Talk about being stuck in a moment they couldn't get out of.
Bureaucratic wrangling has forced organizers to scuttle a much anticipated AIDS benefit concert that was to be hosted by former South African President Nelson Mandela and headlined by U2 frontman Bono, among others.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation confirmed Friday that it was calling off the Mandela SOS Human Rights concert, set for February 2 on Robben Island, the maximum security prison (and now World Heritage site) where the 84-year-old peace activist spent nearly two decades as a political prisoner. The failure to acquire the necessary broadcast rights and sponsorship was blamed.
"We were overwhelmed with the enthusiastic response by the international artists who rose to the occasion. We value their commitment to South Africa. We have, however, concluded that the concert cannot take place since the proposed producers were not able to come to a satisfactory agreement with the foundation," said John Samuel, chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, in a statement.
The foundation had hoped to televise the concert around the globe to raise awareness about the current AIDS epidemic sweeping that country, Mandela's pet cause since stepping down in 1999 as the first black leader of South Africa in the post-apartheid era.
Besides Bono, other music stars on the bill for the daylong affair included Elton John, Coldplay, the surviving members of Queen, Jimmy Cliff, Shaggy, Ludacris, Eve, Macy Gray, Nelly Furtado, Femi Kuti and local South African musicians. Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame was to play music coordinator for the concert.
As a result of the cancellation, Stewart and Bono won't be able to perform "48864," the tune they wrote in honor of Mandela with the Clash's late singer-songwriter Joe Strummer before he unexpectedly died last month of a heart attack.
The show was supposed to climax with the song, which refers to the number Mandela wore during his 18-year stay on the island, just off the coast of Cape Town, with Bono and the gang urging the crowd to sing along.
Plans to release "48864" on an album titled Mandela SOS, which would've featured live cuts of the concert, are now on indefinite hold.
Money raised from the event was supposed and subsequent album was earmarked for the foundation, the United Nations' UNAIDS agendy and the Robben Island Museum.
No word if the foundation will try to organize another benefit.
Infection rates in the sub-Saharan continent have skyrocketed in the last 10 years to crisis proportions. In South Africa alone, one in nine people--or 4.8 million out of a total population of 43 million--are currently diagnosed as HIV-positive. It is estimated that by the year 2010 more than 7 million people in the country could eventually die from AIDS-related illnesses.
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