Kanye West, Carrie Underwood and a special configuration of U2 will all be playing the A (RED) Thank You concert tonight, Dec. 1, for World AIDS Day. Bono's organization planned the event in Times Square, but because of his recent bike accident, the iconic frontman will have to sit this one out. Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay's Chris Martin will take turns fronting the Irish rock outfit, which will be billed as U2 Minus 1. The festivities, presented by Bank of America, start at 7:30 p.m. and we have a live stream of the concert below.
(RED) was founded in 2006 by Bono and Bobby Shriver. The organization has raised more than $275 million since its inception for the fight against AIDS. According to (RED)'s website, the world is closer to raising its first AIDS-free generation with special treatments that prevent the disease from spreading from a mother to her child. Tonight's concert is to celebrate the work that has been done so far and promote the cause in order to eradicate the disease.
"This year is a World AIDS Day like no other," Bono said in a statement. "The world reached a tipping point in the fight against AIDS — more people were newly added to life-saving treatment than were newly infected with the virus."
According to U2's website, Springsteen and Martin "graciously donated their time and talents to save the World AIDS Day event from cancellation."
Following the death of Queen's Freddie Mercury in 1991, some of rock's biggest names met at Wembley Stadium in London to pay tribute to the fallen frontman and bring the AIDS issue to the mainstream. Metallica, Guns N' Roses and Elton John were all on hand to perform, as well as Queen's Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor.
Fans can also listen to the concert live via iHeartRadio.
