De Blasio announces star-studded Central Park concert lineup, compares event to Woodstock

Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out the lineup for the end-of-summer Central Park show celebrating New York City’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing the internationally broadcast “concert of a lifetime” to Woodstock.

The mostly free Aug. 21 “homecoming concert” — produced by Clive Davis and featuring Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Jennifer Hudson and Paul Simon — will also star Carlos Santana with Rob Thomas, Elvis Costello, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Killers, LL Cool J, Journey, Kane Brown, and Wyclef Jean, among others, de Blasio announced Tuesday. Jon Batiste, Andrea Bocelli, Barry Manillow, The New York Philharmonic, Polo G, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds among others will perform as well, the mayor said. “Maybe you could compare it to Woodstock, but this is unprecedented,” de Blasio said at a press briefing held remotely in the Bronx, labeling the performance in the Great Lawn “the concert of a lifetime.”