Bono, Nelson, Naomi Onstage In Barcelona

2 Jul 2001
Bono flew to Barcelona on Saturday at the invitation of Naomi Campbell, to take part in Frock 'n' Roll, a fashion and music industry tribute to Nelson Mandela.

'You don't have to be a president, a prime minister, a member of the Cabinet or Parliament to help eradicate poverty,' Mandela said, ahead of the concert and fashion show which will benefit the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

After Mandela's speech, Bono and Naomi Campbell joined him on stage and introduced a bevy of models for the fashion show, before Wyclef Jean played a short set with his band.

More models followed before Bono took the stage to perform Dylan's I Shall Be Released. Wyclef Jean, an old friend of Bono's who performed New Day with him for Net Aid in 1999, returned to the stage for spontaneous versions of One and Sunday Bloody Sunday which segued into Marley's Get Up Stand Up.

Later Bono returned to the stage with Wyclef when they duetted on Marley's Redemption Song.

'I am humbled,' said Mandela the previous evening, 'That these big stars are performing for our little stars, our children.'

'Every child needs a lot of his and her parents,' he said. 'A child needs the security of a family. She needs to be sent to school, to be fed, to be given shelter. But the love and security of a family is not enough. You need a caring society.'

Mandela said more than 30 million children in Africa will have lost one or both of their parents to Aids. One-third of these are under 15 years old, he said.

'The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund is responding to the social needs of these children.'.

For more on The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund visit www.mandela-children.org

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