Mandela’s All-Star Birthday Bash

Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday bash will include performances from Queen + Paul Rodgers, Annie Lennox, Simple Minds, Sugababes, Dame Shirley Bassey, Razorlight, Andrea and Sharon Corr, Zucchero and Jamelia.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Robert De Niro, British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and a host of other politicians and celebrities from around the globe will also be on the guest list for the event at London’s Hyde Park June 27.

The concert will also feature numerous unexpected appearances, with several major artists keeping silent about their involvement in order to take the former South African president as well as the audience by surprise.

Among the specially chosen artists are many Mandela is recognising for voicing their support for him over the past 20 years, dating back to the city’s historic Free Mandela concert of June 1988, which called for his release from Robben Island.

An audience of 46,664 – the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate’s prison number – will join the party, which is being organised by Live Nation as part of the summer season it runs in the huge central London park.

Fund-raising events as part of the celebrations will benefit the charitable organisations Mandela has established, including the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.

Concert proceeds will go to the 46664 campaign, which raises awareness about the impact of AIDS, especially in Africa , and promotes effective HIV prevention measures throughout the world.