The Roots, Bettye LaVette & More Will Celebrate The Genius Of David Bowie At Carnegie Hall This Spring

Last night, David Bowie returned to stardust after an 18 month bout with cancer. And while much of the world is still digesting such heavy news, Okayplayer is proud to act as a media partner in bringing a collection of artists to New York City's famed Carnegie Hall to pay tribute to a legendary life in music and celebrate the man who began his career by taking cues from Smokey Robinson, ended it by taking cues from Kendrick Lamar, paving the way for countless musicians along the way.

Performers for the evening include The Roots, Bettye LaVette, Cyndi Lauper, Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, Jakob Dylan, Robyn Hitchcock, The Mountain Goats, Ann Wilson of Heart and longtime Bowie collaborator, Tony Visconti, who will lead the house band. And to be clear, this is a performance that's been in the works for months now and it's a terribly tragic coincidence for the announcement to have come today. But what better way to celebrate the life of a once-in-a-millennium artist than a musical salute of the highest order?

Michael Dorfwill be presenting the performance, adding yet another impressive ensemble to toast to years of musical innovation, following nods to David Byrne and the music of Talking Heads, as well as Prince and Paul Simon before that. The performance will take place on March 31st with proceeds going to Young Audiences New York, Little Kids Rock, Church Street School of Music, the Center for Arts Education, the American Symphony Orchestra and Grammy in the School. To date, over 1 million dollars have been raised by Dorf’s must-see, sold-out Carnegie shows.

For more information on the David Bowie tribute, head over to musicof.org.