Rescheduling the event and redirecting its charitable component, Turner
Network Television will telecast Come Together, a John Lennon tribute
show, live Oct. 2, general manager and executive vice president Steve Koonin
said.
The event -- hailing Lennon's words, music and messages of peace and
featuring a bevy of musicians -- had been scheduled to tape Sept. 20 at Radio
City Music Hall in New York, then to air on TNT Oct. 9.
In the aftermath of last week's terrorist tragedies, TNT executives -- in
association with Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Ken Ehrlich Productions --
decided to reschedule the event and to donate the proceeds from the show to New
York City relief organizations.
Those groups include the American Red Cross, the September 11th
Fund, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the New York Fraternal
Order of Police WTC Fund and the National Organization for Victim Assistance,
among others.
Come Together, part of the 'TNT Masters Series' of concert specials, was
originally planned as a benefit for a nonviolent world.
Among the performers scheduled to appear: Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper,
Dave Matthews, The Isley Brothers, Lou Reed, Marc Anthony, Moby and Stone Temple
Pilots. Actor Kevin Spacey will host, while Dave Stewart will serve as musical
director.
Meanwhile, at press time, a Turner Broadcasting System Inc. spokesman --
citing Come Together and commitments from its other networks -- said a
decision had not yet been made on whether the company's cable networks will join
the Sept. 21 simulcast of commercial-free telethon America: A Tribute to
Heroes.
The show -- which will be carried by the broadcast networks, including AOL
Time Warner Inc.'s The WB Television Network, and by such cable channels as Home
Box Office, Lifetime Television, MTV: Music Television and VH1, among others --
will feature Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Tom Hanks, Robin
Williams and Robert De Niro, among others.
