It’s a star-studded event to honor a man that helped shape history. This fall Radio City Music Hall in New York City will be filled with stars raising money to build a memorial to The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall.
The event dubbed “The Dream Concert” is being spearheaded by the likes of Quincy Jones, Russell Simmons and Tommy Hilfiger. The group of Hollywood A listers is hoping to raise about $20 million—the amount needed to complete and maintain the memorial. (More than $79 million has already been raised for the memorial, but organizers say to break ground $100 million needs to be in the bank.)
“I’m honored that such a diverse and committed group of leaders have come together for a concert to help raise the remaining funds,” the president and chief executive of the memorial fund recently told news reporters.
Once the remainder of the money is raised, work on the King memorial will get underway. Currently, the tribute to King is slated for construction near the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials in Washington, D.C. According to those in charge, the memorial will include a sculpture of King and 14 quotations from the slain civil rights leader. If all goes according to plan, the entire memorial will be complete by next year.
It may seem like an ambitious time line, but considering the fundraising concert has the backing of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and support from celebrities including Muhammad Ali, Angela Bassett, Jamie Foxx, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan (to name just a few) I have no doubt that people visiting Washington in 2008 will have the King memorial to add to their list of must-see sites.
It may not be THE dream concert. But it’s still a dream concert for fans of the Smashing Pumpkins. The group, which has been on a concert hiatus for more than a decade, just announced it will hitting the road this summer. The band will perform nine concerts in Asheville and eight in San Francisco from June to August.
According to the group’s website, you will be able to see the band perform live at the Orange Peel in Asheville from June 23 to July 5, and at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco from July 22 to August 1. What’s more, if you are one of the lucky ones to get a ticket, the band announced it plans to allow concert-goers to document the performances with audio and video recorders.
For those of you unfamiliar with the alternative rock group, the Smashing Pumpkins broke up in 2000 after winning two Grammy Awards and selling millions of albums. Then in 2005, the band’s leader announced he wanted the group to reunite. You can bet the reformed group (including its’ newest members) will have all eyes on them come the summer. After all, the band’s last extended performance was a four-show stint in Chicago in 1994.
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