Mandela to Host Concert for AIDS Victims

Former South African President Nelson Mandela announced in Cape Town Friday that he will host a Feb. 2nd concert featuring some of the world's leading entertainers to raise funds for Africa's millions affected by AIDS. U2 star Bono, Macy Gray and Shaggy had already agreed to perform at the show, to be held on Robben Island, a rocky outcrop off the Cape Town coast where Mandela spent nearly two decades as a prisoner of the apartheid regime. Michael Jackson, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Elton John and Janet Jackson have also been approached to play at the event -- "Mandela SOS" -- for an audience of 3,000 invited guests. "The concert will focus on the growing impact that AIDS has had on human life, not only in South Africa but throughout the world," Mandela said. "We must never allow those who are infected and affected by AIDS to become statistics." Among the guests will be talk-show host Oprah Winfrey and Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. "We overcame apartheid, we will overcome AIDS," said Tutu.

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