Beyonce, Madonna to Anchor London Benefit Concert
Pop stars Beyoncé and Madonna have aligned with activists Gloria Steinem and Bishop Desmond Tutu to reach out to an expected billion people this weekend with a message of empowerment for women at a London benefit concert, Reuters reports.
Madonna will be a presenter and Beyoncé will headline “The Sound of Change Live” with Florence and the Machine and Ellie Goulding as part of a concert to be broadcast to more than 150 countries around the globe on June 1st. The concert will air on NBC in the U.S. on June 2nd.
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The four-hour concert is organized by the Chime for Change campagaign, started by Gucci, and seeks to raise money for education, health and justice projects benefitting women and girls in more than 70 countries around the world. Ticket-buyers are able to select what project their ticket will benefit, a first for such a venture, say concert organizers.
Madonna, who will not perform at Saturday’s concert, will be a presenter alongside other musicians, actors, activists and filmmakers from around the globe.
“Sixty percent of the children in the world not in school are girls,” Madonna said. “Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate are women. I do not accept this. We need to change this and we will change this.”
The concert will also serve as a platform to showcase evocative films and other stories showcasing women’s issues from a global perspective.