Will Smith charmed the crowd, Amy Winehouse wowed them just by showing up — but Nelson Mandela proved the biggest star of all at a concert in honor of the South African statesman’s 90th birthday.
Acts including Queen, Razorlight, Leona Lewis and a host of African stars joined more than 40,000 music fans for the outdoor show in London’s Hyde Park on Friday, hosted by Hollywood star Smith and held to mark Mandela’s birthday on July 18.
American singer Josh Groban and the Soweto Gospel Choir also performed at the event, which comes 20 years after a 70th birthday concert at London’s Wembley Stadium that helped press South Africa’s apartheid authorities for Mandela’s freedom.
The biggest cheers of the night were reserved for Mandela, who told the crowd that the 1988 concert had made a difference.
“Your voices carried across the water to inspire us in our prison cells far away,” said Mandela, who spent 27 years in South African prisons. “We are honored to be back in London for this wonderful celebration.”
“But even as we celebrate, let us remind ourselves that our work is far from complete,” Mandela said.
Proceeds from the show — for which there were 46,664 tickets — are going to 46664, the AIDS charity named for the number Mandela wore in prison.
Mandela looked frail and leaned on a cane as he was helped to the stage by his wife, Graca Machel. But his brief speech brought thunderous applause.
“Where there is poverty and sickness including AIDS, where human beings are being oppressed, there is more work to be done,” Mandela said. “Our work is for freedom for all.”
“We say tonight after nearly 90 years of life, it is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now,” Mandela said.
One of the past century’s most admired political figures, Mandela attracted a sense of respect approaching reverence from concertgoers and performers alike.
Singer Leona Lewis dedicated her global chart-topper Bleeding Love to him, saying that when she was a child her aunt and grandmother told her stories “about this incredible, wonderful and great man, Nelson Mandela.”
“Happy birthday. Thank you so much for everything,” she said.
Mandela, a frequent visitor to London, has been in the city since Monday for a week of birthday events. At a star-studded dinner on Wednesday, he criticized Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe for the first time, saying there had been a “tragic failure of leadership” in the southern African country.
Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994. He retired from politics in 1999 and has since campaigned to prevent the spread of AIDS.
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