Rappers Ludacris and Queen Latifah are the latest artists added to the growing line-up at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Dream Concert.
The purpose of the event, which takes place at 8 p.m. Sept. 18 at Radio City Music Hall, is to capture the ideals of hope, love, democracy, and justice taught by the slain civil rights leader, by joining together musicians from different genres, as well as prominent figures from politics, sports and entertainment.
Rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges will serve on the Dream Concert Host committee with Alicia Keys, Mira Soriano, Petra Nicola, Ben Affleck, Muhammad Ali, Angela Bassett, Jamie Foxx, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Albanian Tomlinson, Kerry Washington and former Mayor David Dinkins.
Queen Latifah joins a star-studded list of performers which include newly announced additions Garth Brooks, Joss Stone and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds as well as previously announced entertainers Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Carlos Santana, Robin Thicke, Bebe Winans, Cece Winans and Jessye Norman.
Tickets for the Dream Concert will be available to the public at 9 a.m. July 30 through Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, www.radiocity.com and the Madison Square and Beacon Theatre box offices. Prices are $250, $500 and $1,000.
Proceeds from the event benefit the building of a national memorial honoring King on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. A groundbreaking for the memorial was held on Nov. 13, 2006.
It is scheduled to be completed in 2008. To date, The Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. has raised $81 million of the $100 million needed to complete and maintain the memorial.
Co-chaired by Tommy Hilfiger, Russell Simmons, Joel Horowitz, Quincy Jones, David Stern and Edgar Bronfman, Jr., the Dream Concert will also feature Whoop Goldberg and Al Rocker as a special guest presenters.
For details on the concert, visit www.thedreamconcert.com.