John Legend And The Black Keys Perform At The Global Citizen Festival

by Neesha Arter · October 2, 2012

[Black Keys via]

On Saturday, the Global Poverty Project (GPP) hosted the Global Citizen Festival on the Great Lawn of New York's iconic Central Park. The festival celebrated achievements made towards ending extreme poverty in this generation. There were featured performances by Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Foo Fighters, The Black Keys, Band of Horses and K’naan, and a surprise appearance by John Legend.

Other guests included Katie Couric, Jeffrey Sachs, Chelsea Clinton, Selena Gomez for U.S. Fund for UNICEF, John Legend, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sophia Bush for Pencils of Promise, Olivia Wilde for Half the Sky Movement, Colin Hanks, Lauren Bush Lauren for World Food Program, Katherine McPhee for Malaria No More, Erin Heatherton, Petra Nemcova, Karolina Kurkova, Carol Alt, Quddus, and Michelle Trachtenberg.

[K'naan via]

60,000 people joined the socially conscious musicians, celebrities, leading NGO partners, dignitaries and philanthropists while millions viewed online. In fact, the Festival made history as the largest syndicated music charity webcast and broadcast, supported by Vividas, VEVO, YouTube, AOL/Huffington Post, Yahoo!, VH1.com and NYTimes.com. Television partners included AXS TV, Palladia, Globo Brazil and Fuse.

The kick-off event was on Friday at the Jane Hotel & Ballroom, where headliners like the Foo Fighters, The Black Keys and Band of Horses, as well as guests Michelle Trachtenberg and Colin Hanks, celebrated the festival. Guests enjoyed Starr Rum & Cokes and sipped on the festival’s official cocktail, the Starr Fair Trade Punch, a mix of blueberries, rum, ginger and lime from Apotheke's bartender Nick O’Connor.

[Dave Grohl and Katharine McPhee via]

[Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses via]

[The Black Keys via]

[Olivia Wilde via]

The after party took place at the Gallery at Dream Downtown. Nur Khan Sessions, Qui Tequila and Dream Hotels hosted while DJ Cash spun. The party continued at the Electric Room later with DJ Katz.

[Cristina Civetta, Adam Lublin, Nur Khan, Hugh Evans, Tanyella Evans, Ayler Young]