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Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, Jamie Foxx, Rhiannon Giddens, Tori Kelly, John Legend, Miguel, Pink, Pharrell Williams, Jill Scott, Ed Sheeran, Sia and Sting will all perform at the benefit concert designed to raise awareness about race relations in America.
A+E Networks and iHeartMedia are teaming to raise awareness about race relations in America. The companies will co-present a benefit concert with an all-star roster that includes performances by Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, Jamie Foxx, Rhiannon Giddens, Tori Kelly, John Legend, Miguel, Pink, Jill Scott, Ed Sheeran, Sia, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Pharrell Williams. The concert — tentatively titled Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America — was spurred by the horrific shooting at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina.
The concert, produced by Grammys ep Ken Ehrlich, will take place on Nov. 18, from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and will air across A+E Networks (A&E, Lifetime, History, H2, LMN and FYI) two days later on Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. iHeartMedia will support the concert across its radio stations and iHeartRadio digital platform.
Additionally, A&E will present a one-hour special Conversations on Race in America, immediately following the concert at 10 p.m. The concert, which will benefit the Fund For Progress on Race in America Powered, will feature duets, something Ehrlich has perfected with the Grammys telecast. Additional performers will be announced in the coming weeks.
“As a global media company, A+E Networks has the privilege of being invited into the homes of millions of Americans every day and believe that it is our responsibility to use this incredible platform to inform as well as entertain. By shining a light on the uncomfortable truth that racial inequity and bias still impact our society, we are looking to inspire people to go beyond short-lived, symbolic gestures,” Nancy Dubuc, president and CEO of A+E Networks, said in a statement.
"The current racial situation in America is at a critical point,” said Ehrlich. “Today's musical artists, much like those of the civil rights movement's history, have strong feelings about what's going on today, and we're hopeful that Shining a Light does, in fact, give a voice to their concerns, their hopes, and their thinking about solutions to the alarming events that we see around us every day.”
Added Rich Bressler, President, COO and CFO of iHeartMedia, Inc.: “We’re delighted to play a role with these amazing and committed artists to support such an important event for the benefit of our communities across America."
