artists announced for Nelson Mandela's 46664 awareness concert

Artists and guests including the world's most powerful and instantly recognisable figures and a concert audience of 46,664 will pay their tributes to one of the world's most loved leaders, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and icon of freedom, Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, for his 90th Birthday.

There is to be three days of celebrations, culminating in a three-hour evening 46664 awareness concert honouring Nelson Mandela at 90, in London's Hyde Park on Friday 27th June.

Among the specially chosen artists are many whom Nelson Mandela is recognising for having voiced their support for him over the past 20 years, dating back to London's historic Free Mandela concert of June 1988, which called for Mr. Mandela's release from incarceration on Robben Island and which Mr Mandela has said gave him and his fellow prisoners great inspiration.

Artists specially invited to perform for Mr. Mandela at the Friday night 90th birthday concert will include Queen + Paul Rodgers, Annie Lennox, Simple Minds, Leona Lewis, the Sugababes, Dame Shirley Bassey, Razorlight, Andrea and Sharon Corr, Eddy Grant, and Jamelia, along with international 46664 Ambassadors Italy's Zucchero and Spain’s Amaral.

Joining them to celebrate the life of the world's most respected statesman will be South African and African artists including Johnny Clegg, Sipho Mabuse, multi-South African Music Awards winner Loyiso, Kurt Darren, the Soweto Gospel Choir, Aids orphan choir The Children of Agape, the legendary Papa Wemba, and Sudanese 'war child' rapper Emmanuel Jal.

The concert will also feature numerous unexpected appearances, with several major artists, who are keeping silent about their involvement in order to take both Mr Mandela and the audience by surprise.

President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Will Smith, Ms. Oprah Winfrey, Robert de Niro, Lewis Hamilton, and Forest Whitaker are amongst those who will attend some of the events.

Nelson Mandela hopes that this will help raise further awareness and funds for his charity 46664 in the campaign to fight HIV and AIDS worldwide. The Nobel Peace Prize winners said, "You all know that I am supposed to be retired but when you retire it means that you can have time for birthdays. My friends and the charitable organisations that bear my name want to use my 90th birthday year to raise funds to continue our work and so of course I want to help them. London wants to celebrate my birthday and I said I would go if they would raise funds for our charities. So, we have a bargain - I am going to London and they there will host a concert in Hyde Park, which will raise awareness of our continuing work and much needed funds."

Those wanting to buy tickets for the concert which go on sale on this Friday 9th May at 9am, priced at £65, will need to pre-register at www.46664.com.

46664 is all about spreading the message of AID/HIV prevention, to communities and schools to engage the youth who are at most at risk.

46664 was the prisoner number of Nelson Mandela from his imprisonment on Robben Island, Cape Town in 1964 until his release in 1990. 46664 became the title of Mandela's campaign charity with the aim of raising awareness of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. 46664 generates funds, develops and supports practical programmes for the prevention, testing, care and support for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The not-for-profit organisation is supported by over 80 international ambassadors from music, sport and entertainment who help Mandela in his ongoing fight to raise awareness of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.

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