The Weeknd and Shakira will headline Global Citizen Festival supporting energy access and the Amazon
The Weeknd and Shakira — two of the world's biggest touring artists — will headline this fall's Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park, supporting campaigns to improve energy access across Africa and defend the Amazon against deforestation.
Global Citizen announced Tuesday that the pop stars behind such hits as 'Blinding Lights' and 'Hips Don't Lie" will be joined by Tyla, Ayra Starr and Mariah the Scientist at the concert on Sept. 27. Hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, the annual event highlights the anti-poverty nonprofit's selected humanitarian priorities and urges attendees to collectively tackle those issues through direct support.
'The fact that these artists have immediate proximity to communities that have either recently emerged out of extreme poverty, or are emerging out of extreme poverty, gives them amazing perspective,' Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans told The Associated Press. 'And they bring that perspective into Central Park at this moment where I think the world needs a moment of unity now more than ever.'
The festival's goals involve securing commitments to bring clean, reliable energy to 1 million people in Africa; mobilizing $200 million for indigenous and local entrepreneurs to protect an Italy-sized chunk of the Amazon rainforest; and raising at least $30 million to help community-based education programs improve children's literacy.
Tickets to the festival are free, but fans must earn them by taking actions through the Global Citizen app. Opportunities include uploading videos calling on German and French leaders to back the Amazon protection plan and volunteering to mentor young people worldwide in career development.
This year's calls to action reflect the changing nature of online advocacy campaigns. Organizers find that social media posts and email-driven appeals don't carry the same weight as they did when Global Citizen first started rallying concertgoers. Evans said user-generated content such as a self-recorded clip creates "quality engagement" and makes it almost impossible to game the system.
In The Weeknd and Shakira, Global Citizen is reuniting with previous artistic supporters at a time when they are packing stadiums. The Weeknd, who this month wrapped a four-night run of sold-out performances at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium, is donating $1 from every ticket sale to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. Shakira, who recently completed seven consecutive sold-out shows in Mexico City, joined Coldplay onstage during a 2017 edition of the festival in Germany.
"Music has always been my way of connecting with people and leaving a mark on the world," Shakira said in a statement. 'I can't wait to perform, unite, and inspire action.'
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
In 'Sinners' and his music, Buddy Guy is keeping the blues alive. It hasn't been easy
By MARIA SHERMAN For Buddy Guy — a stalwart and staunch defender of the blues — there's nothing more important than keeping his chosen genre at the forefront of conversation. It comes naturally: Guy is one of America's greatest guitar players, a singular artist with a thick roster of A-list super fans — Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Gary Clark Jr. among them. The list also includes innovative writer and director Ryan Coogler, who tapped Guy for his critically acclaimed film 'Sinners' earlier this year, and artists like Peter Frampton and the Eagles' Joe Walsh, who feature on his new album 'Ain't Done with the Blues.' It releases Wednesday, on Guy's 89th birthday. For the eight-time Grammy Award-winning musician, those recognitions aren't priority. The longevity of the music that made his life is his primary concern. 'Like I promised B.B. King, Muddy Waters and all of them,' he tells The Associated Press over the phone, 'I do the best I can to keep the blues alive.' He's concerned that radio stations no longer play the blues, and that the genre might miss out on connecting with younger listeners. It's one of the reasons 'Ain't Done with the Blues' is a strong collection of classics that run the risk of being forgotten — like on the album closer 'Talk to Your Daughter,' a rendition of the J.B. Lenoir tune. In Guy's performance, there's an undeniable universality. 'Blues is based on everyday life,' he says. 'A good time or a bad time.' Or, another way Guy explains it: 'Music is like a bowl of real good gumbo. They got all kinds of meat in there. You got chicken in there, you got sausage in there. You got a seafood in it. ... When we play music, we put everything in there.' It's resonating. In its 2025 midyear report, Luminate, an industry data and analytics company, found that U.S. on-demand audio streams of blues music has climbed this year due to the success of 'Sinners.' Jaime Marconette, Luminate's vice president of music insights and industry relations, describes the current moment as a 'resurgence of the blues,' following 'Sinners.' 'Several artists featured on the film's soundtrack, which includes works from real-life blues, folk and country musicians, saw spikes the week of the film's theatrical release,' he explains. 'And they're all enjoying a sustained rise in listenership even two-plus months following release.' Guy has noticed the shift, too. 'I walk in the grocery store or the drugstore and people recognize me. 'Man, you know, I heard that 'Sinners' music, man. Man, it sounds good,'' he says. 'They ain't never gonna come in and say, 'I heard it on the radio.'' That's part of the reason why Guy decided to participate in the movie in the first place. 'I hope this will give the blues a boost, because my worry right now is, like I said, a young person don't know how good a gumbo is — you've got to taste it.' For now, he's excited to see how people respond to his new album, 'Ain't Done with the Blues' — but he's not listening to it. 'I listen to everything but Buddy Guy,' he says. 'I already know Buddy Guy. I can't learn anything from that.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
Iconic French chef stakes reputation on vegan menu
In 2001, celebrated chef Alain Passard caused a stir in the rarefied world of French cuisine by dropping red meat from his menu By Marine Do Vale Celebrated French chef Alain Passard has made history once again. The 68-year-old has become the first three Michelin star chef in France to switch to an entirely plant-based menu, opening a new chapter in the world of luxury dining. Since July 21, Passard has stopped serving meat, fish, dairy products and eggs at L'Arpege, his restaurant in the French capital's chic seventh district that he has run for nearly 40 years. The only exception is honey that comes from the restaurateur's own beehives. Passard said the switch had been in the pipeline for a year. "There's light in this cuisine," he told AFP. "There are taste sensations that I've never experienced anywhere else." L'Arpege used to be known as one of the leading rotisseries in Paris. It earned three Michelin stars in 1996, and has held the distinction ever since. In 2001, Passard caused a stir in the rarefied world of French cuisine by dropping red meat from his menu and saying he would focus more on vegetables grown in his gardens. The shift made him one of the first ambassadors of plant-based cuisine. While Passard is motivated by environmental concerns in his new quest, it is above all a culinary challenge. The restaurant's updated menu includes mesclun praline with roasted almonds and melon carpaccio. Lunch costs 260 euros. Passard has no plans to become a vegan militant himself. "I still eat a little poultry and fish," he said. "But I'm more comfortable with plants. They allow me to learn." French chef Claire Vallee knows from experience that Passard is up for a challenge. "It requires a lot more preparation, knowledge and research," Vallee said of plant-based dishes. "It's quite a colossal task." In 2021, her vegan restaurant in southwest France won a Michelin star, the first for an establishment serving only animal-free products in France. Vallee in 2016 launched ONA –- which stands for Origine Non Animale ("Non-Animal Origin") –- thanks to crowdfunding from supporters and a loan from a green bank. The establishment closed in 2022, and the 45-year-old chef went on to open several pop-up restaurants. Since then, no other French restaurant serving only animal-free products has been awarded a Michelin star. Internationally, vegan haute cuisine is rare. Eleven Madison Park in New York has kept its three stars after becoming exclusively vegan in 2021. In the Netherlands, De Nieuwe Winkel's plant-based menu has earned it two Michelin stars. Laurent Guez, a food critic for French newspaper Le Parisien and business daily Les Echos, said Passard's announcement was "a major event". But he also warned that not a lot of chefs could excel in the art of high-end plant-based gastronomy. "It's exceptional cuisine that not everyone can allow themselves to launch into," he said. Michelin guide international director Gwendal Poullennec said he was "delighted" with the transition at L'Arpege, describing it as a "positive approach". "We will continue to follow the evolution of L'Arpege, remaining faithful to our criteria," he told AFP. Passard has given himself two years to take his kitchen skills to a new level. Is he worried about losing his three stars? "I've never thought about that," he said. "We're going to have to deliver. If we can maintain this level of quality, then I'm extremely confident." © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
4 days ago
- Japan Today
Vatican embraces social media 'digital missionaries'
Pope Leo XIV led the Vatican's first mass for Catholic social media influencers By Lisa Duso, Madeleine De Blic Sister Albertine, a youthful French Catholic nun, stood outside the Vatican, phone in hand, ready to shoot more videos for her hundreds of thousands of followers online. The 29-year-old nun, whose secular name is Albertine Debacker, is one of hundreds of Catholic influencers in Rome for a Vatican-organised social media summit this week. The Vatican calls them "digital missionaries" and -- in an unprecedented move for the centuries-old institution -- Pope Leo XIV led a mass dedicated to them at St Peter's Basilica, calling on them to create content for those who "need to know the Lord". Long wary of social media, the Catholic Church now sees it as a vital tool to spread the faith amid dwindling church attendance. For Sister Albertine, this is the ideal "missionary terrain". Inside the Baroque basilica, she was one of a swarm of religious influencers who surrounded the new pope, live streaming the meeting on their smartphones within one of Christianity's most sacred spots. She said it was highly symbolic that the Vatican organised the event bringing together its Instagramming-disciples. "It tells us: 'it's important, go for it, we're with you and we'll search together how we can take this new evangelisation forward," she told AFP. The influencer summit was held as part of the Vatican's "Jubilee of Youth", as young believers flooded Rome this week. 'The great influencer is God' Sister Albertine has 320,000 followers on Instagram and some of her TikTok videos get more than a million views. She shares a mix of prayers with episodes from daily religious life, often from French abbeys. "You feel alone and I suggest that we can pray together," she said in one video, crossing herself. But, as religious content spreads online in the social media and AI era, one of the reasons behind the Vatican's summit was for it to express its position on the trend. "You are not only influencers, you are missionaries," influential Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle -- one of the few Vatican officials active on social media - told those attending mass. The "great influencer is God", he added. Jesus not a digital programme But Tagle also warned that "Jesus is not a voice generated by a digital programme". Pope Leo called on his online followers to strike a balance at a time when society is "hyperconnected" and "bombarded with images, sometimes false or distorted". "It is not simply a matter of generating content, but of creating an encounter between hearts," said the American pope, 69. It is this balance that has been hard to strike, with some Catholic clerics themselves embracing a social media presence. Father Giuseppe Fusari does not look like a regular priest: wearing tight shirts exposing his arm tattoos. To his 63,000 followers on Instagram, he mixes content about Italian church architecture and preaching. Important we're online, too Fusari told AFP there is no reason Catholic clerics should not embrace the world of online videos. "Everyone uses social media, so it's important that we're there too," said Fusari, who came to Rome for the influencer event from the northern city of Brescia. Fusari said his goal was to reach as many people as possible online, sharing the "word of God" with them. This also takes the form of sharing videos of his chihuahua eating spaghetti. But priests and nuns are not the only ones trying to attract people to the Church online, with regular believers spreading the faith too. Francesca Parisi, a 31-year-old Italian teacher, joined the Catholic Church later in life. She now has some 20,000 followers on TikTok, where she tries to make the Catholic faith look trendy. Her target audience? People who have "drifted away" from the church. It's possible, she said, to lure them back through their smartphones. "If God did it with me, rest assured, he can also do it with you." © 2025 AFP
