THE CONSERT IN CAPE TOWN

In November 2002 Mr Mandela gave his prison number 46664 to Dave Stewart of Eurythmics so that he could use it to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa by raising money for the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

The first thing that Dave did was to ask his good friend Joe Strummer, famous as the lead singer of the legendary band The Clash, to write lyrics for a song that included 46664. Sadly this was the last song that Joe was to write. Following his death in December 2002, Dave completed the song with Bono and the two of them recorded it together as the first of a series of co-writes for the campaign. This song, 46664 (Long Walk to Freedom), soon became the anthem of 46664.

Having created the momentum for the creation and recording of new material with fellow artists Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen and Bono, Dave then came up with the idea of trying to get Mr Mandela's prison number to work as a telephone number and web site in order to create a new way of donating and bringing awareness to Mr Mandela's appeal. The result was 46664: Give 1 Minute of Your Life To AIDS.

46664: The Concert

A sell-out crowd of over 40,000 witnessed the 4½ hour concert live, the highlights of which were then heard or seen by an estimated record 2 billion people. It was broadcast live in South Africa on SABC then worldwide on MTV as a 90-minute special on World AIDS Day. The concert was also offered rights free, at no cost, to all radio & TV broadcasters through MTV. The European Broadcasting Union distributed it to 71 member broadcasters in 52 countries, and the Asian Broadcasting Union to 74 broadcasters in 28 countries. BBC World Service also aired the concert in 13 languages across 37 countries as a special radio broadcast. Over 165 other radio networks broadcast a recording of the highlights. Tiscali webcast 46664: The Concert live, and syndicated the webcast to over 40 other web sites.

The Artists:

A wonderful array of the world's great performing artists gave freely of their time and performed unique collaborations to support Mr Mandela:

Abdel Wright
Anastacia
Angelique Kidjo
Baaba Maal
Beyoncé
Bob Geldof
Bongo Maffin
Bono
Danny K
Eurythmics
Jimmy Cliff
Johnny Clegg
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ms Dynamite
Paul Oakenfold
Peter Gabriel
Queen
The Corrs
The Edge
Watershed
Youssou N'Dour
Yusuf Islam
Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Zucchero

More than just a concert

A host of world leaders and celebrities recorded messages of support for 46664 including Bill Clinton, Rev Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey and Robert De Niro. Their contribution was more than matched by 12 of the world's leading visual artists who gave "Give 1 Minute of Art to AIDS". A K Dolven, Alfredo Jaar, Apichatpong 'Joe' Weerasethakul, Berni Searle, Bill Viola, David Krippendorff, Matali Crasset, Matthew Barney, Santeri Tuori, Seydou Keita, Tere Recarens and William Kentridge each produced an original one-minute video conveying the messages of the 46664 campaign through the universal language of visual art.