Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez Stun at London Concert
The biggest names in the industry including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna and Salma Hayek came together at London’s Twickenham Stadium Saturday to participate in a benefit concert promoting girls’ and women’s rights. It is great to see Latinas as well as other powerful names in the Hollywood community promoting such causes.
Beyoncé, who headlined the event, hit the stage in a form-fitting leather bodysuit and wowed the crowd with covers of Sam Cooke’s, A Change Is Gonna Come and the Etta James classic, At Last.
“I’m Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and I chime for change,” she said as she took the stage.
Her set kicked into high gear with Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), Run The World (Girls), Halo, the Destiny’s Child classic Survivor, and her new song, Grown Woman. Her husband, Jay-Z, also joined her onstage for their chart-topping 2003 hit, Crazy in Love.
Jennifer Lopez excited the crowd of approximately 50,000 with her new song Live It Up, and she later joined Mary J. Blige on The Beatles’ Come Together.
The concert also featured music by John Legend, Florence + The Machine, Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding, Timbaland and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon, among others.
Madonna, James Franco, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jessica Chastain, Freida Pinto, Aishwarya Rai and newlyweds Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively were among the presenters. Feminist icon Gloria Steinem also took the stage, and Britain’s Prince Harry appeared in a videotaped segment.
Along with actress-producer Salma Hayek and Gucci creative director Frida Giannini, Beyoncé is a co-founder of the Chime for Change charity. According to the charity’s website, its mission is to raise funds to and promote women’s empowerment around the world. Its main focus includes expanding access to education, health care and justice for women and girls.
Ticket buyers for the event get to choose which project their ticket will benefit, which will help fund 120 projects supporting women and girls in more than 70 countries.