Beyonce, Bono to Play Africa

Nelson Mandela's S.O.S. concert in South Africa to raise money and awareness about the AIDS epidemic in Africa has been rescheduled for November 29th, nearly ten months after a sponsor pulled out causing the initial show's cancellation.

The concert will still feature U2 frontman Bono and Queen, according to the Sunday Times in Johannesburg, along with Beyonce Knowles, Dave Stewart, Anastacia and Ms. Dynamite. Macy Gray, Nelly Furtado, Shaggy, Jimmy Cliff and Youssou N'dour were among the acts slated for the original, February 2nd concert, but a complete lineup for the new show has not yet been finalized.

Original plans called for the concert to be held at the prison in Robben Island where Mandela was incarcerated for nearly two decades and broadcast on screens at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. The rescheduled concert will be held at stadium and not Robben Island.

Late Clash frontman Joe Strummer had penned a song for the occasion, "46664" (Mandela's prison cell number), for a show-ending sing-along.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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