The packed lineup for Global Citizen’s 2019 Festival’s annual event included performances by Queen + Adam Lambert, Carole King, Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams, in New York’s Central Park on September 28, 2019. Also appearing were host Hugh Jackman as well as co-host Rami Malek, who earned an Academy Award earlier in the year for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.
Queen closed the program shortly after 10 p.m, ending with a triumphant performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” followed by “We Will Rock You” / “We Are the Champions.”
King performed many of her favorites, during the 6 p.m. hour. (Watch several clips from both acts below.)
The festival broadcast was produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Ken Ehrlich. For the sixth consecutive year, MSNBC & Comcast NBCUniversal aired a live simulcast of the festival on MSNBC and MSNBC.com. (The festival was also livestreamed on YouTube and Twitter.)
Watch Carole King perform “I Feel the Earth Move”
The concert was believed to be King’s first scheduled public performance since she sang several songs at an event at the Hollywood Bowl in 2017. Before that, she headlined a British Summer Time concert at London’s Hyde Park in 2016.
Watch King accompany her 1971 self on “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman”
Watch King perform “Beautiful” at Global Citizen Festival 2019
Watch Malek introduce Queen + Adam Lambert, as they open their set with “Now I’m Here”
Watch them perform “Under Pressure”
The headliners also included OneRepublic and H.E.R. Special guest performances by French Montana, Tony Award winner Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen), and Jon Batiste & Stay Human took place throughout the evening, while Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness returned to host the event on Central Park’s Great Lawn. Other co-hosts besides Malek included actress Rachel Brosnahan, Bill Nye, Joy Reid, and actor Forest Whitaker.
“Like Live Aid in 1985, we believe this concert will be a milestone,” Queen’s Brian May said.
The annual festival takes place at the end of the United Nations General Assembly week in New York City and is designed to call on world leaders to make real, impactful commitments toward achieving the UN’s Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
Tickets were free, but to be among the 60,000 in attendance to the advocacy event, Global Citizens everywhere had to take action through the Global Citizen app to earn a chance to win free tickets to the event.
An estimated 60,000 Global Citizens in attendance — and millions more watching the broadcast and livestreams on Twitter and YouTube — joined the artist lineup to put pressure on governments, businesses, and philanthropists to uphold their responsibilities toward 2019’s four core themes: empowering women and girls around the world, combating plastic pollution to protect the poorest parts of the planet, improving the quality of health care and nutrition, and unlocking human potential through quality education, skills, and health.
Global Citizen is calling on world leaders to make commitments across four policy areas at this year’s festival — women’s rights, plastic pollution, health care, and human capital.
Watch Stevie Wonder perform at Global Citizen 2017
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