Usher, Gwen Stefani Headline Earth Day Rally
In celebration of Earth Day, several high profile artists have come together to lend their talents in the name of music at the Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day Rally, and Usher and Gwen Stefani are leading the pack.
Held at the National Mall, the rally and concert, which will be hosted by Soledad O'Brien and will.i.am, features performances from other big names as well, including Common, Mary J. Blige and Train. Aside from the performers, top officials from the World Bank and United Nations are scheduled to speak at the rally.
According to the Associated Press, in addition to the musical aspect of the event, Earth Day organizers are also revealing plans with developers of the popular "Angry Birds" game to create an all-new in-game experience geared towards promoting climate change. The game will coexist with the U.N. General Assembly in Sept. where world leaders congregate to discuss and attempt to reach sustainability goals.
Speaking on the impact of both the game and celebrity power at the event, Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers said that the ultimate goal of the event is to eradicate poverty: "Whether it's the big migrations we expect to see or soil depletion or emptying oceans, loss of species, loss of timberland — all these things are creating poverty at the same time that they are also creating climate change issues," she said.
Though Earth Day officially falls on April 22, the April 18 event will ask contributors to pledge to making environmentally friendly "acts of green" all year round. Participants will also be asked to sign petitions for a U.N. conference on climate change which is set to take place in Paris in December.
The all-day Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day rally is free of change and will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. near the Washington Monument.
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(Photos from left: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS, Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
