If you’re a Sting fan, circle May 13th and 14th.
The former Police front man, I am told, is going to rock Rockefeller Plaza on Friday May 14th. Sting’s going to inaugurate the Today Show’s Summer Concert series on the Plaza.
He’ll have to stay up all night, though. On the prior evening, Sting and wife Trudie Styler will present their bi-annual Rainforest Foundation concert at Carnegie Hall (with a donors dinner at the Plaza Hotel). They’ve already signed up Elton John and Lady GaGa, as well as legend Shirley Bassey. More names will follow. But long time player James Taylor won’t be able to make it. He’s on tour this spring with Carole King.
All of this comes as Sting continues to sell out dates around the country for his concert hall tour.
The Rainforest Foundation celebrates its 21st birthday this year, and it’s been an amazing success. Despite efforts to denigrate it by naysayers, the Rainforest Foundation has collected and distributed millions and millions of dollars toward the preservation of indigenous people of the rainforests. The work spreads and spreads, too.
Styler has been particularly effective in bringing the tragedies of the rainforest to light: last year she was heavily involved in a much praised documentary called “Crude,” about how Chevron Oil has poisoned the water supply in Ecuador. Unlike you or I, she actually went there and helped bring water tanks with filters.
And just this past February, Sting returned to Brazil to visit old friends from the Rainforest–you can read it about at www.rainforestfoundation.org.