Stipe, Bright Eyes Unite for Peace
Musicians, activists join forces for benefit concert



(Gold9472: Great song from REM. Great song from Bright Eyes.)

TRACEY FORD
Posted Feb 22, 2006 1:16 PM

R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D and Rufus Wainwright will join peace activist Cindy Sheehan for the Bring 'Em Home concert. The event, which will benefit the Iraq War Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace, will take place at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on March 20th, the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The evening's guest hosts will include such outspoken celebrities as Jane Fonda, Alec Baldwin, Margaret Cho and Janeane Garofalo; while Steve Earle, Fischerspooner, Peaches and Devendra Banhart will be among the other performers.

Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004, attracted the national spotlight last August when she held a month-long demonstration outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch. "I thought that one person couldn't make a difference," Sheehan told Rolling Stone last year. "Then, after Casey was killed, my daughter Carly read me a poem she wrote. It moved me to action. I thought, 'If one person can't make a difference, at least I'm gonna go to my grave trying.'"

The concert will kick off the national Bring 'Em Home speaking tour, which will bring Sheehan and noted authors to fifteen cities across the U.S. in April.