The 30th annual Rainforest Fund benefit concert will feature Sting, Bruce Springsteen and James Taylor.
Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor and John Mellencamp will perform with Sting at the 30th annual Rainforest Fund benefit concert. Hosted by Robert Downey Jr., the event is set to take place at New York’s Beacon Theater on December 9th.
Named “We’ll Be Together” after a 1987 Sting single, the lineup also features Shaggy, Eurythmics, H.E.R., Ricky Martin, Bob Geldof and MJ Rodriguez. Benefit Level tickets start at $1,000; remaining tickets will be available on November 1st via Ticketmaster.
Founded in 1989 by Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, the Rainforest Fund aims to protect the world’s rainforests and defend the human rights of the indigenous peoples who live there. “With the Amazon blighted by fire this summer, and a real and growing awareness of climate change, there has never been a more important or more opportune moment to fight to protect our forests,” Styler said in a statement. “All life on earth depends on their survival.”
The evening is also a tribute to the Eighties, during which MTV-era acts like Mellencamp and Geldof united for social change and participated in massive benefits like Live Aid, Farm Aid, and Band Aid.
Sting and Styler have thrown 17 Rainforest Fund benefit concerts over the years since 1991. The last was in 2016 and featured Springsteen, James Taylor, Idina Menzel, Darlene Love and Ronnie Spector. This is the first year it will be held at Beacon Theater — all have previously taken place at Carnegie Hall.
(c) Rolling Stone by Angie Martoccio