Global Citizen: Stevie Wonder, Green Day Lead Free NY Festival
UPDATE: Global Citizen has announced “Global Citizen Week,” a series of events, speakers and performances, from September 17th to 23rd leading up to the Global Citizen Festival. On Monday, September 18th, Annie Lennox will receive the George Harrison Global Citizen Award at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Tom Morello will be among the artists performing at Global Citizen Live where Lennox will be honored.
“For generations, New York City has been the place where Global Citizens come together, take action, and tackle global challenges,” Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans said in a statement. “Global Citizen Week will showcase the work being done by campaigners, entrepreneurs, artists and advocates from across the world. Working with innovative companies and governments, Global Citizens will turn New York into an arena of advocacy, calling on world leaders to deliver on their promises of a world without extreme poverty.”
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Stevie Wonder, Green Day and the Chainsmokers will headline this year’s Global Citizen Festival, scheduled for September 23rd at New York’s Central Park.
Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, Andra Day, the Killers, the Lumineers and Alessia Cara are also among the artists and entertainments set to appear at the sixth annual free music festival, which provides tickets via a lottery to those join the movement through the Global Citizen site.
More special guests will be announced over the coming weeks.
“In this crucial time, there is nothing more exciting to me than having the honor of giving my gift of song, words and motivation to the Global Citizen Festival,” Wonder said in a statement. “When we commit ourselves to life issues, we are showing love of the Most High. I was, I am and will always be, a citizen connected to the spirit of everyone on this planet moving forward. Let’s go!”
“We’re grateful to be a part of this year’s Global Citizen Festival,” added Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong. “American aid programs make a significant difference in the betterment of lives at home and around the world, and we should all want these programs to become stronger, not weaker. We all play a part in seeing this mission through and it starts with calling on all our leaders.”
Now in its sixth year, Global Citizen asks its followers to hold their leaders accountable on issues like education, food security, healthcare, gender equality, and sanitation. The advocacy group also aims to “end poverty, tackle climate change and fight inequalities by 2030.”
Wonder previously performed at the Global Citizen fest in New York 2013, while Green Day and the Chainsmokers will be making their Global Citizen debuts. In the case of the Chainsmokers, the EDM duo recently teamed with Coldplay and frontman Chris Martin, Global Citizen’s curator until 2030, on the single “Something Just Like This.”
The Global Citizen Festival continues to expand since its inaugural event in 2012, with Hamburg, Germany hosting an iteration with Shakira, Coldplay and Pharrell during the G20 summit. This past November, Coldplay and Jay-Z also staged their first-ever concerts in India as part of Global Citizen’s debut festival in that country.