12-12-12 - The Concert For Sandy Relief • Wednesday, December 12, 2012

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I had just taken a holiday to the Bahamas. The day I was supposed to be leaving, they told me there was a storm blowing in. I’d just flown out of there and that evening the storm hit. I heard something like 28 people were killed. It was terrible. I just scraped out of that.

Paul McCartney – From For Whom The Bell Tells, December 31, 2012

From paulmccartney.com, November 16, 2012:

Paul is one of several artists confirmed to perform at the forthcoming ‘12-12-12’ benefit concert at Madison Square Garden on 12th December 2012. The concert – already being billed as ‘a showcase of music royalty’ – will also feature performances from Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Roger Waters, Kanye West and The Who, with more artists to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

As the tri-state region begins to recover from Sandy’s stunning and acute devastation along the coastal areas of Long Island, Queens, Staten Island and New Jersey, there remains an enormous task of rebuilding both the infrastructure and thousands of shattered lives. ‘12-12-12’ presents an important opportunity for the community and nation to come together to provide significant support to these communities as they confront staggering short- and long-term issues.

From paulmccartney.com, December 13, 2012:

Paul performed with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear from Nirvana at last night’s 12-12-12 benefit concert in New York.

The Madison Square Garden fundraising concert is thought to have been the biggest music broadcast event in history having potentially reached an estimated two billion people.

Dave, Krist and Pat – performing live for the first time in nearly 20 years – premiered a new track with Paul titled ‘Cut Me Some Slack’. The song was recorded earlier in the year at Dave Grohl’s studio and will feature in his forthcoming documentary about Sound City Studios. The track was recorded using the famous custom-built Neve desk from the studios with Butch Vig at the helm. […]

Paul’s set opened with electrifying performances of ‘Helter Skelter’, ‘Let Me Roll It’ and ‘Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five’. Diana Krall provided piano accompaniment for ‘My Valentine’. Paul finished off with a rousing run through of ‘Live and Let Die’.

All proceeds from the benefit go to the Robin Hood Foundation who will distribute the funds to those in need after the devastating November storm.

Paul McCartney’s performance debuted after midnight (following performances by The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton and many more). At the end of it, he introduced Alicia Keys who performed “Empire State Of Mind” as the final song of the event. She was backed by Paul’s band, and all performing artists of the night – including Paul – appeared onstage.

Last updated on December 8, 2020