MAY 22- After a dazzling show at Cannes Film Festival, Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will join international singing stars Madonna and Beyonce at a mega charity concert in London next month.
Rai, who will be joined by actor husband Abhishek Bachchan, has been confirmed as a celebrity presenter at the Chime for Change event on June 1 aimed at raising funds and awareness for women’s rights and empowerment around the world.
In a world first, each ticket buyer will personally be able to choose which of the many projects Chime For Change supports will receive their ticket money.
The Sound of Change Live concert itself at Twickenham Stadium has been underwritten by international luxury fashion brand Gucci and is guaranteed to fund at least 120 projects supporting girls and women globally.
“Sixty per cent of the children in the world not in school are girls! Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate are women! I do not accept this. We need to change this and we will change this,” said Madonna, who will not be performing but is one of the celebrity presenters alongside Indian actresses Rai and Freida Pinto, as well as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former British Prime Minister Gordon and wife Sarah Brown, and Hollywood star Jessica Chastain.
Well-known UK promoter Harvey Goldsmith, behind some of the world’s biggest global charity concerts such as Live Aid and Live 8, will produce the four-hour concert.
