Usher, Green Day, Alicia Keys Sign On For Hurricane Relief Concert September 10
Usher, Green Day, Ludacris and Alicia Keys are among the artists who have signed on for a Hurricane Katrina relief concert that will span four cities, three television networks and several musical genres.
Dave Matthews Band, Rob Thomas, Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, David Banner, Gretchen Wilson and John Mellencamp will also take part in the shows, which will be staged in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Nashville on September 10 and will air live on MTV, VH1 and CMT. Additional artists will be added to the lineup soon, and proceeds from the show will go to the American Red Cross.
"In the face of a tragedy of this scope, we simply have to do everything in our power to offer support, comfort and hope to all the people directly impacted by the hurricane," Judy McGrath, chair and CEO of MTV Networks, said Wednesday (August 31) of the concerts. "Our goal is to join forces on every medium to get involved, to volunteer, to contribute in any way we can."
The concerts are part of a larger awareness campaign that will also include an MTV News special on Katrina relief efforts, on-campus resources, and information across all the network's channels regarding aid and activism.
To find out what you can do to help provide relief to victims of Katrina, head to think MTV's hurricane relief page.
MTV's parent company, Viacom, also announced that it has contributed $1 million to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Effort.
Hundreds are feared dead and tens of thousands are without shelter in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in the hurricane's wake (see [article id="1508672"]"Katrina Devastates New Orleans; Mississippi Death Toll Rises To Over 110"[/article]). Flood waters continued to rise in New Orleans on Wednesday, further plunging the city into chaos. President George W. Bush has called the hurricane "one of the worst national disasters in our nation's history." He devoted federal resources to the aid effort, but called on private citizens to do their part as well.
[This story was originally published at 6:48 p.m. ET on 08.31.2005]
