CNN to air ‘WE LOVE NYC: The Homecoming Concert’ celebrating city’s comeback from Covid-19

By Devan Cole, CNN

A star-studded concert featuring a variety of artists spanning the musical and entertainment worlds will take place in New York’s Central Park later this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday, promising the event will be a “historic, monumental moment for all New Yorkers and all Americans.”

“WE LOVE NYC: The Homecoming Concert,” being organized by New York in partnership with longtime music producer Clive Davis and the entertainment company Live Nation, will be “a celebration of New York City’s comeback” after a challenging year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and will “promote health, safety, and equity,” according to a release announcing the concert. The concert will air Saturday, August 21 at 5 p.m. ET exclusively on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español.

The show’s lineup includes Andrea Bocelli, Wyclef Jean, Kane Brown, Barry Manilow, Bruce Springsteen, Cynthia Erivo, Don Lemon, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Lucky Daye, Elvis Costello, Gayle King, Jennifer Hudson, Jimmy Fallon, Journey, Jon Batiste, The Killers, LL COOL J, The New York Philharmonic, Patti Smith, Paul Simon, Polo G, Maluma, Carlos Santana, Rob Thomas, JP Saxe and Julia Michaels. Anheuser-Busch, Citi and Expedia are the presenting sponsors.

“This is going to be an historic, monumental moment for all New Yorkers and all Americans. I’ll put it plainly: You’re going to want to be here,” de Blasio, a Democrat, said in the release. “This is a celebration of our city, of every working family who faced incredible challenges last year and overcame.”

Pandemic-era restrictions in New York were lifted earlier this month as hospitalization rates in the city dropped and vaccination rates climbed. The city, once the nation’s Covid-19 epicenter in the pandemic’s early days in the US, had been hit especially hard by the deadly virus that overwhelmed hospitals and turned the city’s attention to its health care staff, first-responders and other essential workers.

For Davis, there “is absolutely no place more special than Central Park to celebrate the reopening of New York City,” and he and his collaborators “are curating an unforgettable show befitting of this historic occasion,” according to the release.

The event’s organizers are requiring concertgoers to show proof of their Covid-19 vaccination in order to be in attendance, with mask-wearing optional, according to the release, which said 80% of the concert’s tickets will be made available for free starting August 2.

In addition to airing worldwide on CNN, “WE LOVE NYC: The Homecoming Concert” will also be viewable without requiring a cable log-in on CNN.com and CNNgo (at CNN.com/go on your desktop, smartphone, and iPad, and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV, Chromecast and Roku).

This story has been updated with additional information.

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