Queen Beyonce to lead expanded anti-poverty concert

American Pop star, Beyonce and Pearl Jam will headline the Global Citizen Festival in New York, which for the first time will broadcast internationally as organizers seek to expand its anti-poverty message. Other performers at the September 26 show in Central Park will include Coldplay, whose frontman Chris Martin has signed on to a long-term role in arranging the festival, and English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, who previously announced his participation. 

Launched in 2012, the annual concert coinciding with the UN General Assembly is free for fans who commit to actions aimed at eradicating extreme poverty. Beyonce will be playing one of only two announced shows since the pop superstar ended a world tour last year.

This year’s festival “is especially rewarding as we all join focuses and utilize our talents for one goal: to end extreme poverty globally,” Beyonce said in a statement released Thursday.

The festival, which in the past has been broadcast only in the United States by MSNBC, will aim to reach a worldwide audience through a YouTube livestream, among other broadcast plans.

Beyonce was a surprise performer at last year’s festival during a set by her husband, rapper Jay Z. Another unexpected guest was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who vowed to improve sanitation for his nation’s poorest.

Leaders of the Global Poverty Project, which spearheads the event, recently traveled to India to meet Modi and discuss collaboration with Indian stars, said Hugh Evans, its chief executive.

The concert will come a day after the United Nations is expected to announce new targets at the end of a 15-year global push against poverty known as the Millennium Development Goals. “The stakes are a lot higher than any previous year,” Evans told AFP.