Announced Today -- Organisers today announced details of the Australian curtain-raising show for the seven-continent, 24-hour Live Earth concerts to be held on 7/7/07. The Australian concert will occur at Aussie Stadium in Sydney.

Tickets for the show go on sale in Australia Friday, May 18, at 9 a.m. AEST at www.ticketek.com. Get more details.

The global concert will begin in Sydney and continue across all seven continents with concerts in Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, London and Rio de Janeiro before concluding at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

Speaking via a video linkup at the event's official launch at Aussie Stadium today, Live Earth partner Al Gore said, "The climate crisis is a global problem that requires a global response. That's exactly what Live Earth is. On 7/7/07, Live Earth will touch over 2 billion people with 24 hours of live music across seven continents and an urgent, hopeful message to trigger a worldwide movement to combat the climate crisis. This movement begins here at Aussie Stadium."

Artists Performing in Sydney

Kevin Wall founded Live Earth. Wall also served as worldwide executive producer of 2005's Live 8 concert series. Lily Sobhani, Live Earth's global head of events, represented Wall at the Sydney launch today.

"Live Earth Australia will kick off 24 hours of music spanning all seven continents to focus the world against global warming," Wall said. "Over 100 headlining artists, ranging from Madonna to the Police to Wolfmother, all of whom are donating their time to perform at the concerts, will inspire an audience of over 2 billion people. Live Earth is designed to trigger a mass movement to combat our climate crisis. The climate crisis touches everyone, everywhere. Live Earth is about motivating people in every corner of the planet to 'answer the call' and make meaningful and lasting changes in their lives to combat global warming."

Live Earth marks the beginning of a multiyear campaign led by The Alliance for Climate Protection to move individuals, corporations and governments to take action. All proceeds will go to The Alliance for Climate Protection, other international nongovernment organizations (NGOs), Australian NGOs and projects on the ground in Australia yet to be announced.

The same team of event producers that came together to mount the celebrated WaveAid tsunami benefit concert in Sydney in 2005 will also stage Live Earth Australia . The team includes legendary Australian concert promoter Michael Chugg A.M. (Chugg Entertainment), Mark Pope (event producer of the ARIA Awards) and Joe Segreto of IMC (founder and promoter of Sydney's annual Homebake festival).

Live Earth promoters have worked closely with Australian government officials to include the price of public transport in the ticket price for the event. This includes travel to and from the event on CityRail trains, special event buses to and from Central Station and Moore Park, and on standard Sydney buses and ferry services. Including the cost of public transport in the ticket price will ensure that the environmental impact caused by getting the crowd to and from the show will be kept to a minimum. Organizers will encourage concert attendees to use the public transport supplied.

Exclusive online media partner MSN is helping Live Earth reach people in every corner of the globe. The concerts will be streamed live on 7/7/07 at LiveEarth.MSN.com. MSN's 39 localized Web portals worldwide attract 465 million users each month. The concerts will also be broadcast worldwide on television and radio.

smart has joined Live Earth as an official partner. Its claim, "Open your mind," summarizes smart's approach to building cars, and this thinking has resulted in arguably the most ecologically sound and environmentally relevant car of our time: the smart for two.

Live Earth is produced by Control Room, of which Kevin Wall is the CEO. Control Room has produced and distributed more than 60 concerts since its founding in 2005, including concerts featuring Beyoncé, Madonna, Green Day and the Rolling Stones.

The U.S. show will feature live on stage:
Kanye West
AFI
Kelly Clarkson
Akon
KT Tunstall
Alicia Keys
Ludacris
Bon Jovi
Sheryl Crow
Melissa Etheridge
Dave Matthews Band
Rihanna
Fall Out Boy
Roger Waters
Smashing Pumpkins
John Mayer
The Police

The London show will feature on stage:
Beastie Boys
Black Eyed Peas
Bloc Party
Corinne Bailey Rae
Damien Rice
David Gray
Duran Duran
Foo Fighters
Genesis
James Blunt
John Legend
Keane
Madonna
Paolo Nutini
Razorlight
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Snow Patrol