Rock, pop, country singers to headline Boston benefit concert
BOSTON bands Aerosmith and New Kids on the Block, singer- songwriter James Taylor and country singer Jason Aldean will headline a concert to benefit the victims of last month’s Boston Marathon bombing, organisers said on Friday.
The May 30 concert at the city’s TD Garden arena is also aimed at showing support for the people of Boston after the bombing that killed three people and injured 264. O ther artistes lined up for “Boston Strong: A n Evening of Support and Celebration” include singers Jimmy Buffett and Carole King, the band Boston and the J. Geils Band, concert promoters Live Nation and TD Garden said.
“Like so many other proud Bostonians who have been extremely generous, we are honoured to step up and do our part to help the victims and their families,” said Donnie Wahlberg of former boy band New Kids on the Block.
“Hopefully this event will not only raise money, but spirits as well,” Wahlberg said in a statement.
Boston-born Taylor said, “Everyone involved has responded from the heart in a spontaneous and simultaneous desire to be there and to do what we can for the city we love.”
All proceeds from the concert will go to The One Fund, which was set up by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Tickets priced from US$ 35 to US$ 285 go on sale on Monday.
The two bombs that exploded near the fi nish line of the Boston Marathon on Apr 15 were the worst attack on US soil since the Sept 11 2001, attacks.
Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police four days later. The ethnic Chechen’s younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was wounded in the Apr 19 shootout, is being held in a nearby prison facility. — Reuters