On This Day, June 11, 1988: Sting, Dire Straits & more perform at 70th birthday concert for Nelson Mandela

On This Day, June 11, 1988…

Sting, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton and Peter Gabriel were among the artists who performed at a 70th birthday tribute concert for imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela at Wembley Stadium in London. 

The concert was broadcast to 67 countries, to an audience of 600 million.

Other artists on the bill included Eurythmics, Joe Cocker, Bryan Adams, Jackson Browne, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, UB40, Simple Minds, Stevie Van Zandt and more.

Mandela, whose actual birthday was July 18, was released from prison in 1990 and went on to serve as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

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