The Simple Truth: A Concert for Kurdish Refugees was a 1991 fundraising concert in support of
Kurdish Refugees
The problem of Kurdish refugees and displaced people arose in the 20th century in the Middle East, and continues today. The Kurds ( ku, کورد, Kurd), are an ethnic group in Western Asia, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which inclu ...
after the
Gulf War. The concert was produced by Tony Hollingsworth, with
Jeffrey Archer also involved.
It was staged in
London,
Amsterdam,
Philadelphia and
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, and broadcast on television in 36 countries. During the concert, $15 million in donations were collected.
Nearly 12,000 people attended the concert at
Wembley Arena in London, including the then Prime Minister
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
and
Princess Diana.
The amount of money raised by the concert is uncertain. At a press conference on 19 June 1991 a figure of £57 million was stated, though this consisted mainly of aid offered by overseas governments. An investigation found that the concert and its associated appeal had raised £3 million, and Kurdish groups said that around £250,000 had been received by people in Iraq.
Allegations concerning the misappropriation of funds were not substantiated.
Featured artists
*
Beverley Craven
*
Chris de Burgh
*
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria MarÃa Milagrosa Fajardo GarcÃa; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...
*
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
*
Gypsy Kings
*
Hall & Oates
*
MC Hammer
*
Whitney Houston
*
Lavine Hudson
*
INXS
INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...
*
Tom Jones
Tom Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer
* Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist
*''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...
*
Alison Moyet
Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist.
Her ...
*
New Kids on the Block
*
Sinead O’Connor
*
Alexander O’Neal
*
Shiven Perwer
*
Ryuichi Sakamoto
*
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
*
Snap!
*
Lisa Stansfield
*
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
*
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
References
External links
*
The Simple Truth: A Concert for Kurdish Refugees: at listen campaign
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simple Truth: A Concert for Kurdish Refugees, The
1991 concerts