Destiny's Child Join Jackson

Destiny's Child are the latest in a long list of big-name acts to sign on to the "Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, the Solo Years." The girls will join Marc Anthony, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, 'N Sync and others when they take the stage at Madison Square Garden on September 7th for the first of two shows. Destiny's Child will perform a medley of their recent hits as well as their current hit, "Bootylicious."

The second of the two concerts takes place on September 10th, also in Madison Square Garden. Both nights will be taped and aired as a two-hour special on CBS at a later date, and both nights will feature performances from Jackson, as well as a reunion with brothers Jackie, Marlon, Tito and Randy. Last week, Jermaine, who had been announced as a performer, issued an open letter to the media stating that he and brother Randy objected to the exorbitant ticket prices for the two-night stand and that no charities would stand to benefit from the event. Marlon Jackson later issued a statement saying that Randy was wrongly included in Jermaine's complaint. As it stands the brothers, minus Jermaine, are set to perform and will sing the Jackson 5 classic "Dancing Machine" with 'N Sync.

The performers for September 7th are Marc Anthony, Ray Charles, Deborah Cox, Destiny's Child, Gloria Estefan, Billy Gilman, Whitney Houston, James Ingram, Quincy Jones & The Legends Of Jazz including Al Jarreau, Herbie Mann, Les McCann, David "Fathead" Newman, Jimmy Smith, Clark Terry & Cassandra Wilson, Liza Minnelli, Monica, Mya, 'N Sync, Jill Scott, Shaggy featuring Ricardo "Rikrok" Ducent & Rayvon, Britney Spears, Tamia, 3T, Usher and other surprise guests.

The performers set for September 10th are Marc Anthony, Mary J. Blige, Deborah Cox, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Gloria Gaynor, Al Jarreau, Gladys Knight, Lil' Romeo, Ricky Martin, Liza Minnelli, Monica, Mya, 98 Degrees, Jill Scott, Usher, Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick and surprise guests.

The concert will feature a forty-eight-piece orchestra and twelve background singers. There will also be a 300-member gospel choir, a 200-member children's choir and a forty-member dance ensemble. Other celebrity guests pegged for the show are Marlon Brando, Liza Minnelli, Sean Lennon, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Master P.

Tickets for both shows go on sale Tuesday, July 31st through Ticketmaster.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter