Everything he does, he does for...world peace?!
Bryan Adams has announced he will headline two peace concerts Oct. 18, calling for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of the New York-based OneVoice Movement. The organization seeks to create a grassroots movement to bring about a two-state solution to end decades of strife.
The Canadian rocker will begin his epic day in a soccer stadium in the ancient West Bank town of Jericho in the Palestinian Authority, then cap the day with a set at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, Israel. The simultaneous festivals, which will also include Israeli and Palestinian artists on the bill, will be beamed by satellite to audiences in Washington, D.C., Boston, London, Ottawa and other cities in the U.S. and Europe that will be holding their own "echo events."
"Israelis and Palestinians from Tel Aviv to Ramallah, from Jericho to Haifa, will stand together in Jerusalem to unite against violent extremism," says OneVoice founder Daniel Lubetzky, who calls the event "historic and unprecedented."
"Hundreds of thousands of citizens will share their vision for peace...Our work has never been so urgent or so necessary."
Also lending their support to the campaign are Danny DeVito and wife Rhea Perlman, Brad Pitt and, ironically, ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, Natalie Portman, Edward Norton and Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander, all of whom will reportedly contribute video messages which will be shown during the concerts.
OneVoice currently has nearly 600,000 signatures asking both governments to resume negotiations. While the festival is free, concertgoers will be asked to sign the petition before they gain entrance. (A digital version is online at onemillionvoices.org.)
Adams is no stranger to social activism, having participated in Amnesty International's two-week Conspiracy of Hope tour in 1985 with U2, Sting and Peter Gabriel. The 47-year-old singer has also taken part in Live Aid, the Prince's Trust, Nelson Mandela's charity concert, and he was among the featured guests at Roger Waters' 1989 performance of The Wall in Berlin, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Most recently, he performed at benefit concerts for victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. Adams is best known for his string of hits in the '80s and early '90s, including "Cuts Like a Knife," "Straight from the Heart," "Summer of '69," "Heaven" and "(Everything I Do) I Do for You."