46664 (concerts)

46664 ("four, double six, six four") is a series of AIDS charity concerts played in honour of Nelson Mandela by South African musicians in the 2000s.

Origin

Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island in 1964, and was the 466th prisoner to arrive that year. The prison administration's scheme of numbering prisoners was to follow the sequence number of the prisoner (466 in his case), with the last two digits of the year (64). [http://www.46664.com/2 46664.com]

The number was imposed on him by the prison for over 25 years, until his release in 1990. "Prisoner 46664" continues to be used, as a reverential title for him, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation uses 46664.com as its website address.

Shortly before Joe Strummer's death, he and U2's Bono co-wrote the song "46664" for Mandela as part of the campaign against AIDS in Africa.

46664 Concerts

Cape Town, South Africa

On 29 November 2003 an event called the 46664 Concert was held at Green Point Stadium, Cape Town. It was hosted by Mandela and its goal was to raise awareness of the spread of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The following artists performed:
*Anastacia
*Beyoncé Knowles
*Robert Plant
*Bob Geldof
*Queen (Brian May and Roger Taylor)
*Dave Stewart
*Paul Oakenfold with Shifty Shellshock and TC
* Amampondo Drummers
*Baaba Maal
*Youssou N'Dour
*Yusuf Islam (the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens)
*Peter Gabriel
*Angelique Kidjo
*Bono and The Edge from U2
*Abdel Wright
*Chris Thompson, Zoe Nicholas, Treana Morris
*Yvonne Chaka Chaka
*Bongo Maffin
*Johnny Clegg
*Jimmy Cliff
*The Corrs
*Ladysmith Black Mambazo
*Eurythmics
*Danny K
*Watershed
*Zucchero
*Ms. Dynamite
*Andrew Bonsu
*Soweto Gospel Choir

Following the concert, three live CDs and a DVD titled "46664: The Event" were released.

George, South Africa

On 19 March 2005, another "annual" 46664 Concert was held at Fancourt Country Club and Golfing Estate, in George, South Africa with people like Katie Melua, Annie Lennox, and Queen + Paul Rodgers. Will Smith was the host.

Madrid, Spain

The first 46664 event to be staged in Europe took place from 29 April 2005 through to 1 May 2005 in Madrid, Spain. The concerts named "46664 Festival Madrid" focused on Spanish-speaking artists, as shown in the following list:

;"Noche de Raices"("Roots night", 29 April 2005)
*Falete
*Valderrama
*Diana Navarro
*José Mercé
*Queco
*La Tana
*Diego El Cigala
*Josemi Carmona
*Pepe Habichuela
*Pasión Vega
*Alberto Cortez
*Niña Pastori

;"Noche de Pop"("Pop night", 30 April 2005)
*Taxi
*No se lo digas a Mamá
*Beatriz Luengo
*Fábula
*Modestia Aparte
*Sybel
*La sonrisa de Julia
*El sueño de Morfeo
*El Canto del Loco
*Jarabe de Palo
*Mikel Erentxun
*Nacho García Vega
*Miguel Ríos
*Los Anónimos
*Danza Invisible
*Presuntos Implicados
*Loquillo y Trogloditas
*Iguana Tango
*Pereza
*Javier Gurruchaga

;"Noche de Solistas"("Singer-songwriter's night", 1 May 2005)
*Elena Bujedo
*Pedro Javier Hermosilla
*Carmen Paris
*Jorge Drexler
*Carlos Nuñez
*Ismael Serrano
*Manolo García
*Sergio Dalma
*Zucchero

Tromsø, Norway

On 11 June 2005, the 46664 Arctic Concert was held in Tromsø, Norway.The following artists performed:

*Anneli Drecker and Jane Kelly (NO)
*Adjagas and Lawra Somby
*Razorlight (UK)
*Kaizers Orchestra (NO)
*Bongo Maffin (ZA)
*Samsaya
*Earth Affair (IS)
*Noora Noor (NO)
*Thomas Dybdahl (NO)
*Saybia (DK)
*Peter Gabriel
*Robert Plant (with Strange Sensation)
*Mafikizolo (ZA)
*Madrugada (NO)
*Ane Brun (NO)
*Jivan Gasparyan
*House band with:
**Annie Lennox
**Brian May
**Sharon Corr
*Sami (choir)
*Johnny Clegg (UK/ZA)The show started at 19:00 on 11 June 2005, and ended at about 01:15 the next day.

Johannesburg, South Africa

On 1 December 2007, International "World AIDS Day", a third concert was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The concert was hosted at Ellis Park, with tens of thousands of people in attendance.citation |title=46664 rocks Joburg |first=Fran |last=Blandy |date=3 December 2007 |periodical=iafrica.com |accessdate=2008-01-02 |url=http://entertainment.iafrica.com/news/699881.htm |format=dead link|date=September 2008 – ^{[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=author%3ABlandy+intitle%3A46664+rocks+Joburg&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=Search Scholar search]} ] Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Ludacris, Corinne Bailey Rae, Goo Goo Dolls, Razorlight, and Jamelia performed for Nelson Mandela on stage. The event was streamed live on iclips.net.

London, United Kingdom

A concert celebrating Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday took place in London's Hyde Park on 27 June 2008.

Artists who performed at this special event included Josh Groban, Queen + Paul Rodgers, Annie Lennox, Simple Minds, Jerry Dammers, Amy Winehouse, Sugababes, Razorlight, Leona Lewis, Eddy Grant, Joan Baez and Jamelia. Will Smith opened the concert with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith later performed his song, "Switch". Quincy Jones also made an appearance introducing Leona Lewis. Other celebrities who made an appearance include Lewis Hamilton,Geri Haliwell and Peter Gabriel.

Joining them were South African and African artists Johnny Clegg, Sipho Mabuse, Loyiso, Vusi Mahlasela, the Soweto Gospel Choir, Aids orphan choir The Children of Agape - the subject of the award winning film feature "We Are Together", the legendary Papa Wemba and Sudanese "war child" rapper Emmanuel Jal amongst others.

There had been a promised surprise guest which was expected to be The Spice Girls, although the girl group did not perform.

Dame Shirley Bassey had been confirmed as a guest, but did not appear on advice from her doctors, following recent stomach surgery.

The concert was broadcast live online at Iclips.net and on Virgin Radio, and highlights shown on ITV1 (and MHD in the United States), hosted by Phillip Schofield and Fearne Cotton.

ee also

*Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute

References

External links

* [http://46664.com 46664.com] - 46664 campaign website
* [http://46664.org.za 46664.org.za] - 46664 South Africa website
* [http://www.nelsonmandela.org nelsonmandela.org] - Nelson Mandela Foundation
* [http://www.46664concerts.co.uk 46664concerts.co.uk] - Unofficial Concert Information
* [http://www.southafrica.info/mandela/46664.htm southafrica.info] - Article about the initial concert