Stars Unite for Haiti Telethon
George Cloonety gathered a galaxy of stars in three cities including Madonn, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Bono yesterday night to raise money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
While Hollywood’s elite, including Jack Nicholson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ben Affleck and Mel Gibson manned a bank of telephones in Los Angeles, tens of millions of TV viewers were treated to a string of performances from chart-topping stars in Los Angeles, New York and London.
Alicia Keys kicked off proceedings with a performance of her hit Prelude to a Kiss, before Chris Martin teamed up with Beyonce to perform her song Halo.
Bruce Springsteen followed Keys with a rendition of folk song We Shall Overcome; Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban sang Lean on Me; Madonna performed Like A Prayer; Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris covered Leonard Cohen classic Hallelujah and Jennifer Hudson belted out Let it Be.
Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono and the Edge united in London to perform Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour) – a track Bono and Jay-Z wrote over the phone especially for the telethon.
Neil Young and Dave Matthews rounded out the night with a sombre duet of Hank Williams song Alone and Forsaken.
Other performers on the night included Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Coldplay and Taylor Swift.
Between performances, stars including Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman and Matt Damon shared the stories of just some of the earthquake’s victims.
Speaking to MTV after the event, Clooney said, “I hope we made some money out of this. The only way to make this a success is to make a considerable amount of money.”
The telethon was beamed live into 640 million homes around the globe, and all performances are available for purchase on iTunes, with proceeds going to benefit earthquake victims.
To donate, visit Hopeforhaitinow.org.
(IG/WN/IG)
Thanks to our friend Lighthouse Mike. Check out more than 50 video captures from the Madonna performance by clicking the image below.
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