Spurred by the horror of seeing the Twin Towers engulfed in flames during the terrorist attack on New York, Paul McCartney is heading up a list of fellow stars scheduled to appear in a Concert For New York benefit.
In the wake of the disaster Sir Paul had originally planned to host his own benefit in honour of the victims and rescue workers, but later agreed to appear at the October 20 event which will also feature Macy Gray, Neil Young, and Mick Jagger.
The British rocker watched in disbelief as the disaster unfold from the window of his plane while it waited for take-off clearance on the runway of the city’s airport. “We were just taxiing out onto the tarmac at 8:45am. Suddenly the captain said ‘look’ and we saw the tower in flames. Heather and I couldn’t believe what had happened,” said Sir Paul. “This concert is out of solidarity for the people involved. We have all been so shocked by this.”
“I can’t fight fires but I know I can do this concert,” he continued, revealing he has a personal reason for respecting the firefighters who worked on the disaster site – his own experiences of his father working as a fireman during WWII. “I know if I was faced with what happened, I’d want to run the other way, but they actually have to run into the building,” he said during a radio interview in London on Thursday.
The concert, which will reunite Paul with former Beatle Ringo Starr, also features US rocker Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor and Gwyneth Paltrow. Legendary outfits Led Zeppelin and The Who are expected to perform for the Madison Square Garden gig which will be televised live on cable music channel VH1.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
