The Rolling Stones Ain’t Too Proud to Beg (for Sandy Relief)
NOTHING GETS MICK JAGGER GRINNING LIKE DISASTER RELIEF.
The already-extraordinary talent for Wednesday’s 121212 Concert for Sandy Relief just became even more awesome: The Rolling Stones will join the lineup.
The concert’s producers—James Dolan, Executive Chairman of the Madison Square Garden Company; John Sykes, President of Clear Channel Entertainment and Harvey Weinstein, Chairman of The Weinstein Company—along with David Saltzman, Executive Director of the Robin Hood Foundation, made the annoucement this afternoon at the Garden.
The Stones join The Who, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi and Billy Joel.
Given some of the talent’s propensity for playing deep into the night (Bruce, we’re talking to you), Harvey Weinstein was aked how long he thought the concert would last. “If you know what happened at Hyde Park, you can use your imagination,” said Weinstein. “Let’s just say, nobody’s pulling the plug at the Garden that night.”
In addition to the musical talent, the celebs participating in the telethon include Steve Buscemi, Jessica Chastain, Chelsea Clinton, Sean Combs, Billy Crystal, Leo DiCaprio, Jimmy Fallon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Karlie Kloss, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Chris Rock, Adanm Sandler, Susan Sarandon, Jon Stewart, Kristen Stewart, and Quentin Tarantino. (Personally, we’re hoping Chris Rock will tell us a filthy joke on the phone, but we wouldn’t hang up on any of them.) Tommy Hilfiger will donate T-shirts.
The 121212 concert will not only be the largest show ever produced at the Garden, but it will also be historic in terms of its reach: the event will be distributed worldwide to an estimated two billion people through television, radio, and online live streaming (including on YouTube) and free at select Clear Channel movie theaters. It will also be broadcast on digital billboards in Times Square, London, and Paris.
Tickets to the concert are sold out. Online and TV viewers are encouraged to donate to the Sandy Relief effort here or by calling during the concert to the celeb-manned phone banks. All proceeds will go directly to tristate victims of Hurricane Sandy, to be distributed by the Robin Hood Foundation Relief Fund, which has already dispersed over $10 million to Sandy victims.
