Stars Gather For Nelson Mandela’s 90th B-Day
Queen, Leona Lewis and Amy Winehouse were among the performers due to serenade Nelson Mandela at a concert Friday honoring the South African statesman’s 90th birthday.
Winehouse, whose participation was in doubt when she was hospitalized last week after fainting, performed a rendition of the Specials’ 1984 anthem “Free Nelson Mandela” for the Hyde Park show, hosted by Will Smith.
The event marks Mandela’s birthday July 18 and comes 20 years after a 70th birthday concert at Wembley Stadium that helped press South Africa’s apartheid authorities for his freedom.
Proceeds from the show — which organizers hoped would be attended by 46,664 people — will go to 46664, the AIDS charity named for the number Mandela wore in prison.
Mandela, a frequent visitor to London, has been in the city since Monday for a week of birthday events. On Wednesday, he attended a dinner with guests including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former President Bill Clinton, Robert De Niro and Oprah Winfrey.
Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after 27 years behind bars, 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.