G20 Hamburg: Stars on stage at Global Citizen Festival
On the eve of the G20 summit, musicians including Coldplay, Shakira and Pharrell Williams are coming to the Global Citizen Festival stage in Hamburg to call on politicians to be more active against global poverty.
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Coldplay
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin is the event's patron. The Brit signed on in 2015 for a 15-year engagement as curator of the festival, which is being held this year for the first time in Germany. Held in New York every year since the initial concert in 2012, last year the festival took place in India and Canada. The stickler? Tickets are not for sale; they need to be earned via civic engagement.
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Shakira
The Colombian singer will be appearing on stage with Coldplay. The 40-year-old UNICEF ambassador is engaged in her homeland in programs benefiting disadvantaged children. "I believe that we - as global citizens - could be the first generation that can guarantee children have access to quality education, health and the right nutrition so that they can break free of this vicious cycle," she said.
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Pharrell Williams
No stranger to the charity festival, Pharrell Williams wowed the audience at the One Love benefit for Manchester held last month. In Hamburg, he arrives with a political message: "The next generation deserves a better future. Let's make sure our leaders commit the resources necessary to bring millions out of extreme poverty across the globe."
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Herbert Grönemeyer
The 61-year-old German musician became socially active early on in his career. He took part in the project Band for Africa in 1985, inspired by Band Aid a year earlier, and from 2005 to 2015 he was the face of the campaign, "Your Voice Against Poverty," targeted at the German government. He has performed at numerous benefits, most recently in Dresden at a 2015 concert against hate and xenophobia.
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Ellie Goulding
British singer Ellie Goulding was one of the first performers to put her name to the festival. She's also a philanthropist who takes part in numerous charity events and supports the goals of the festival: to have the leaders of the G20 countries take the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, laid out in 2015, seriously and fulfill its goals.
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Demi Lovato
Filling in for Selena Gomez, who had fallen ill, Demi Lovato took to the stage for the Global Citizen concert in 2016. Hugh Evans, co-founder of Global Citizen, was thrilled. "Demi is known globally for her activism when it comes to equal rights and health issues," he said at the time.
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Lena
The last German star to win at Eurovision, Lena Meyer-Landrut has become a hometown hero, bringing her talents to stages across Germany in the name of a good cause. In Hamburg, she'll serve as the pre-show for Coldplay and Shakira. The main event, which kicks off at 7 p.m. CET, will be livestreamed worldwide.
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Justin Trudeau
Politicians have gotten in on the action as well. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who appeared on stage in Montreal at the 2016 Global Citizen Festival, will again be present in Hamburg. Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Argentine President Mauricio Macri will likewise be there. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hostess for the summit, has been invited but has not yet responded.
A free concert for those engaged in social activism, the Global Citizen Festival has drawn big music names to Hamburg ahead of the G20 summit.
Their goal is to draw awareness to issues of global poverty and call the attention of leaders and heads of states who will be attending the summit to global problems that need greater support.
The event, organized by Global Citizen, was first held in New York in 2012. Music fans can win free tickets to the festival by contributing to charity acts on the organization's website.
This year, stars will highlight issues ranging from health care and women's rights to education, nutrition and clean drinking water, along with the refugee crisis.
