Bob Geldof and Madness are set to perform alongside a star-studded line-up at an upcoming Ukraine benefit concert.
The Songs of Freedom concert will also feature live performances by Chrissie Hynde and Peter Hook and the Light, alongside special video appearances from Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Sean Penn and Huey Lewis & The News.
The benefit concert is set to take place at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena on 3 February and be broadcast worldwide.
Other performers include The Doobie Brothers, Midge Ure, Nick Lowe, Inspiral Carpets and Squeeze’s Chris Difford, and more acts will be announced in due course.
The Boomtown Rats star and Ure famously launched Live Aid in 1985 and released the festive charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas? in December 1984 to help support those affected by the famine in Ethiopia.
Money raised from the new benefit show will go to the charities United24, Voices of Children, Sviatoslav Vakarchuk Charitable Foundation (People Of The Future), and Masha Foundation, and support women, children, and vulnerable communities affected by the war in Ukraine.
A special recording of the Ukrainian song Shchedryk (Carol Of The Bells) will be released before the show, featuring the Songs For Ukraine Choir, the Royal Opera Choir and the London Metropolitan Orchestra, with a national campaign backing it to reach number one on the UK singles chart. All proceeds from the single go towards the charity appeal.
Songs of Freedom tickets go on sale on Monday 16 November, following a pre-sale on Thursday 12 November.
