Sting Joins Elton John and Lady Gaga for The Rainforest Foundation Charity Concert

Sting and Trudie Styler hosted the 16th annual Rainforest Foundation benefit concert to celebrate the organization’s 21st anniversary at Carnegie Hall on Thursday night. This year’s performers included Elton John, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Debbie Harry, Mary J. Blige and Shirley Bassey.

The event – which has been the Foundation’s main fundraiser since 1989 – was dubbed as an evening of 1980s hits and stars (“Sting told me we’re doing a show of ’80s nostalgia,” said Springsteen. “I said, ’That’s easy! We’re both ‘80s nostalgia!’”).

And the concert didn’t let fans down, with Sir Elton covering Madonna’s Material Girl and The Boss singing a version of Bryan Adam’s Cuts Like A Knife. Sting duetted with Lady Gaga on Stand By Me, while Gaga joined Sir Elton for Speechless/Your Song. Sting also joined Mary J. Blige for their 2003 duet Whenever I say Your Name. Both Elton and Sting joined Shirley Bassey for Hey Big Spender, and the evening ended with everyone on stage for Don’t Stop Believing.

Slash Leads Rockers For Charity

Motorhead frontman Lemmy, former KISS star Ace Frehley and legendary guitarist Slash rocked Los Angeles on May 7 for the sixth annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert in honor of former First Lady Betty Ford and to raise money for the famous Betty Ford Center she founded.

In addition to raising money for the MusiCares MAP Fund – which provides members of the music community access to addiction recovery treatment –
Samantha Ronson also DJed during the event in memory of tragic death of Adam ‘DJ AM’ Goldstein, who died after suffering an accidental drug overdose last August.

The Betty Ford Center provides effective alcohol and other drug dependency treatment services, including programs of education and research, to help women, men and families begin the process of recovery.

Mary J. Blige to Headline Cinema Against AIDS at Cannes

Mary J. Blige will give a special performance at this year’s seventeenth annual amFAR Cinema Against AIDS event on May 20 at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in France.

Hosted by Alan Cumming, the black-tie event – which features a cocktail reception, dinner and live auction – has become one of the most aniticpated events held during the Cannes Film Festival.

The Cinema Against AIDS event includes many of the celebrities and personalities associated with the film festival, while also attracting familiar faces from the worlds of fashion, music, business, and international society.

Event Chairs include: Giorgio Armani, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Blunt, Kenneth Cole, Milutin Gatsby, Ryan Kavanaugh, Michel Litvak, Vincent Roberti, Carine Roitfeld, Sharon Stone and Harvey Weinstein.

Since 1993, Cinema Against AIDS events around the world have raised more than $50 million for lifesaving AIDS research.