African star on Live 8 bill
2005-06-08 10:28
London - Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour was named on Tuesday among the acts lining up for a free Edinburgh concert timed to push Group of Eight leaders to act on poverty in Africa.
This comes after criticism that few black artists were appearing in Bob Geldof's Live 8 gigs.
Rocker-turned-activist Geldof was blasted for having scarcely any black or African acts in his multi-city concerts aimed at pressurising G8 leaders at their summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, on July 6-8.
The line-up for the July 6 gig at Murrayfield in the Scottish capital was revealed by Midge Ure, Geldof's Live 8 collaborator.
Also on the bill in Edinburgh are Travis, Dido, Texas, Damon Albarn, Wet Wet Wet, Annie Lennox, Embrace, McFly and The Zutons for the concert at the home of Scottish rugby union.
The 60 000-ticket concert ties in with a series of star-studded Live 8 gigs masterminded by Geldof and Scotsman Ure, the pair behind the seminal 1985 Live Aid charity concert.
The July 2 free gigs are set to take place in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin and Philadephia in the United States.
Geldof has urged activists to flock to the Scottish capital on July 6, sparking fears the city would be over-run with demonstrators.
But Ure sought to allay worries of as many as one million people descending on Edinburgh, a city with a population half that number.
"I don't think a million people will come to Edinburgh. We've no idea how many will come," he said.
"I said last week, 'Edinburgh, open your hearts, open your homes' - yes to people you know, of course, not to axe murderers - so that will happen, I hope."
- SAPA