Concert rocks to celebrate Mandela's 90th

Proceeds to help AIDS charity

Former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa and his wife, Graca Machel, at yesterday's 46664 charity concert in London. (Edmond Terakopian/associated press)

LONDON - Will Smith charmed the crowd and Amy Winehouse wowed it just by showing up, but Nelson Mandela proved to be the biggest star at a concert yesterday in honor of the South African statesman's 90th birthday.

Acts including Queen, Razorlight, Leona Lewis, and a host of African stars joined more than 40,000 music fans for the outdoor show in London's Hyde Park, hosted by movie star Smith. The event was held to mark Mandela's birthday on July 18 and to raise funds for his AIDS charity.

Josh Groban and the Soweto Gospel Choir also performed at the concert, which occurred 20 years after a 70th birthday concert for an absent Mandela at London's Wembley Stadium. Mandela, an antiapartheid activist, had at that point been imprisoned in South Africa for 25 years.

Mandela told the crowd yesterday that the earlier concert made a big difference in his eventual release and the fight against the racist system, which was dismantled in the early 1990s.

"Your voices carried across the water to inspire us in our prison cells far away," said Mandela, who got the night's biggest cheers. "We are honored to be back in London for this wonderful celebration.

"But even as we celebrate, let us remind ourselves that our work is far from complete."

Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after spending 27 years behind bars. He was elected South Africa's first black president in 1994 and retired from politics in 1999.

In Washington yesterday, Congress gave final approval yesterday to legislation removing the "terrorist" label and travel restrictions that the United States had imposed on Mandela and others from the African National Congress, which fought to end white minority rule in South Africa.

The ANC was banned by South Africa's apartheid government in 1960. Its leaders were jailed or forced into exile until the ban on the movement was lifted 30 years later. Stricter security measures passed by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States kept the ANC with a terrorist label because it used armed force.

In Cape Town, tributes to Mandela's dignity, humanity, and humor poured in during a special sitting of South Africa's Parliament.

Since leaving the presidency in 1999, Mandela has not commented on whether today's South Africa has lived up to his dreams.

The racial divide still runs deep; millions remain mired in poverty. Corruption is rife, crime rampant. AIDS kills 1,000 people a day.

Mandela's successor, Thabo Mbeki, is isolated at home by his aloofness and discredited abroad because of his apparent appeasement of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. And Jacob Zuma, who is expected to become president next year, will go on trial this year for corruption, having already been acquitted of rape.

Proceeds from the concert - for which there were 46,664 tickets - are going to 46664, the AIDS charity named for the number Mandela wore in prison.

Mandela looked frail as he was helped onto the stage by his wife, Graca Machel. But his brief speech brought thunderous applause.

"We say tonight after nearly 90 years of life, it is time for new hands to lift the burdens," Mandela said. "It is in your hands now."

Also on the lineup were Annie Lennox, reggae singer Eddy Grant, and African artists including Johnny Clegg and Papa Wemba.

One of the biggest stars was Winehouse, whose participation looked doubtful after she collapsed last week. Winehouse spent several days in a London hospital undergoing tests. Her spokeswoman said Winehouse had preemphysema symptoms from smoking cigarettes and crack cocaine.