Oh no, not me…
I know many of you have been panicked by reports circulating that David Bowie is one of the artists performing at the Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town on November 29th in support of 46664 ? The Concert.
This story is not true, however the mistake has probably come about via a series of Chinese whispers, as David has indeed contributed an audio message for the 46664 event that will most likely be used as part of the telephone campaign.
Here’s a bit from the official
46664 was the prison number of Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, Cape Town where he was held in captivity for 18 years.
Nelson Mandela gave his prison number 46664 to Dave Stewart of Eurythmics in November of last year who then asked the late Joe Strummer to write lyrics for a song that included the 46664 prison number. Stewart then completed the song with Bono earlier this year and the two of them recorded it as the first of a series of co-writes together for this campaign.
Further recording sessions began in March of this year when Stewart was joined by Queen?s Brian May and Roger Taylor in a studio in Cape Town to lay down tracks which would also see them working in collaboration with some of South Africa?s premiere musicians.
To date those who have committed to joining leading African artists include Anastacia, Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal, Beyonce, Bongo Maffin, Bono, Danny K, Eurythmics, Johnny Clegg & Sipho Mchunu, Ladysmith Black Mombaza, Ms Dynamite, Paul Oakenfold, Queen, Ready D, The Corrs, Watershed, Youssou N?Dour, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Zola and Zucchero.
46664 The CD and 46664 The DVD are planned for release early 2004. Proceeds will benefit the global fight against AIDS, and will encourage customers to join the global petition.
The 46664 campaign was conceived by Dave Stewart and put into place in partnership with the Mandela Foundation and Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen.
The above information is just a tiny part of a huge and very worthy campaign. You can find out much, much more by checking out