Live 8 set for Johannesburg
2005-06-16 14:20
London - Three more pop concerts around the world are being arranged for next month's Live 8 charity event, Irish organiser Bob Geldof said on Thursday, according to a report.
The pop star-turned aid activist, who was receiving an honorary degree in Dublin, said concerts in Tokyo, Toronto and Johannesburg on July 2 would be formally announced on Friday.
While the South African concert had long been planned, the others were hastily arranged to put pressure on the Japanese and Canadian governments to increase assistance to Africa, Geldof was quoted as saying by Britain's Press Association newswire.
"Three weeks ago Europe agreed, unbelievably, to double aid, throwing the ball back to the Yanks (Americans), the Japanese and the Canadians.," he said.
"So that forced me now to do, which I didn't want to do, a concert in Tokyo, Toronto, which we are announcing tomorrow."
The Johannesburg concert would be officially introduced by ex-South African president Nelson Mandela, if he was healthy enough, Geldof added.
Other concerts have already been announced for the same day: in London - at which Paul McCartney, Elton John and REM, among others, will appear - Philadelphia in the United States, Paris, Rome and Berlin.
Geldof, who organised the massive Live Aid fund-raising charity concerts in 1985, hopes the latest event will raise awareness of African aid issues ahead of the G8 leaders' summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, starting four days later.