Top names in music including Metallica and Rihanna joined leaders in a concert that brought promises of action to support refugees and improve sanitation in the developing world.
The Global Citizen Festival, broadcast live from the vast lawn of New York’s Central Park, distributes tickets to fans who commit to petitions and other actions aimed at ending extreme poverty.
With performances from some of the world’s most sought-after artists, the fifth edition of the festival placed special focus on solidarity with refugees amid the mass exodus from war-ravaged Syria.
Metallica played one of the band’s few shows ahead of the metal icons’ upcoming album, ripping through five of their most classic tunes at a decibel level rarely heard in the halls of international diplomacy.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar put on the festival’s most extensive set, culminating in an energetic “Alright,” his unofficial anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Showing a human side to refugees, the festival aired a video of Alex Assali, a Syrian who found safety in Germany and feeds homeless people as a show of gratitude.
