| Concert by Various Artists | |
| Venue | Hyde Park, London |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | 27 June 2008 |
| Duration | 3.5 hours |
| No. of shows | 1 |
| Attendance | 46,664 |
| Website | www.46664.com |
The Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute was held in Hyde Park, London on 27 June 2008 to commemorate Nelson Mandela's ninetieth birthday (18 July). The concert formed part of the 46664 concert series to promote awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and came twenty years after the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert at Wembley, held while Mandela was still in prison.
The three-and-a-half-hour concert was attended by 46,664 people. General admission tickets were available for £65. It was broadcast on the internet and Virgin Radio with highlights on ITV1. The hosts were Will Smith and his wife Jada, and June Sarpong, with other celebrities including Amy Winehouse, Quincy Jones, Peter Gabriel, Stephen Fry, Lewis Hamilton and Geri Halliwell introducing artists.
Mandela came onstage himself during the concert, where he made a short speech – to great applause.
The concert finished with a rendition of The Special A.K.A. song "Free Nelson Mandela" with Winehouse and Dammers joined on stage by the night's other performers.
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 Tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude". Lyrically, they present a "more focused and informed political and social stance".
Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers is a British musician who is a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry, England, based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A. and The Spatial AKA Orchestra. He also founded 2 Tone Records.
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
46664 is a series of AIDS benefit concerts played in honour of Nelson Mandela by South African and foreign musicians between 2003 and 2008.
The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London, and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. Marking the forthcoming 70th birthday of the imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela, the concert was also referred to as Freedomfest, Free Nelson Mandela Concert and Mandela Day. In the United States, the Fox television network heavily censored the political aspects of the concert. The concert is considered a notable example of anti-apartheid music.
Savuka, occasionally referred to as Johnny Clegg & Savuka, was a multi-racial South African band formed in 1986 by Johnny Clegg after the disbanding of Juluka. Savuka's music blended traditional Zulu musical influences with Celtic music and rock music that had a cross-racial appeal in South Africa. Their lyrics were often bilingual in English and Zulu and they wrote several politically charged songs, particularly related to apartheid. Some better-known Savuka songs include "Asimbonanga", and "Third World Child", from their 1987 album Third World Child. Band percussionist Dudu Zulu was killed in 1992; their song "The Crossing" was a tribute to him.
The London Community Gospel Choir is a British gospel choir. It was founded in 1982 and has gone on to provide backing for performers such as Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Gorillaz and Kylie Minogue.
Calcutta Youth Choir was set up in 1958 by Ruma Guha Thakurta with Salil Chowdhury and Satyajit Ray.
"Nelson Mandela" is a song written by British musician Jerry Dammers, and performed by band The Special A.K.A. – with lead vocal by Stan Campbell – released on the single "Nelson Mandela"/"Break Down The Door" in 1984.
Bebe Cool is an African reggae and ragga musician from Uganda. He started his career around 1997 in Nairobi, Kenya, but moved back to his native country a few years later. Bebe Cool was one of the first artists affiliated with Ogopa DJs, a production house and record label in Kenya.
The Soweto Gospel Choir is a South African gospel group.
This is a summary of 2007 in music in the United Kingdom.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa was a music concert that took place on 16 April 1990 at Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park, London, United Kingdom (UK) and was broadcast to more than 60 countries. It was held two months after the release of Nelson Mandela from a South African apartheid prison and was regarded by Mandela as an official international reception.
Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010. However, other groups began celebrating Mandela Day on 18 July 2009.
The Amy Winehouse Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, set up in memory of English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse (1983–2011).
"Mandela Day" is a song by the rock band Simple Minds. It was included in the single "Ballad of the Streets" EP which reached No.1 on the British charts in February 1989 and in their album Street Fighting Years. The single highlights the songs "Mandela Day", "Belfast Child", originally its A-side in the full length version, and "Biko".
Amy is a 2015 British documentary film about the life and death of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. The film was directed by Asif Kapadia and produced by James Gay-Rees, George Pank, and Paul Bell and co-produced by Krishwerkz Entertainment, On The Corner Films, Playmaker Films, and Universal Music, in association with Film4. The film covers Winehouse's life and her struggle with substance abuse, both before and after her career blossomed, and which eventually caused her death.
Colours of a New Day: Writing for South Africa is an anthology first published in 1990, edited by Sarah LeFanu and Stephen Hayward, inspired by an international tribute concert to imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela on his 70th birthday in 1988. As described by The New Internationalist magazine: "This is the literary equivalent of the Free Mandela concert: a collection of prose and poetry by 34 writers from around the world who have pledged their profits to an ANC cultural project inside South Africa." Taking the title from an optimistic phrase used by a character in Lewis Nkosi's story "Under the Shadow of the Guns", the editors aimed to publish a book that would give writers the opportunity to express their opposition to apartheid and also to provide material assistance for the cultural work of the African National Congress (ANC), to which the writers' royalties and publishers' profits were donated.
"Asimbonanga", also known as "Asimbonanga (Mandela)", is an anti-apartheid song by the South African racially integrated band Savuka, from their 1987 album Third World Child. It alluded to Nelson Mandela, imprisoned on Robben Island at the time of song's release, and other anti-apartheid activists. It was well received, becoming popular within the movement against apartheid, and was covered by several artists including Joan Baez and the Soweto Gospel Choir.
