FACTBOX-Who said what about the Live Earth gigs

Sat Jul 7, 2007 7:04pm EDT
 
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(Reuters) - More than 100 pop stars were performing at nine concerts around the world on Saturday in a bid to spur governments, corporations and the public to take action on global warming.

Following are comments from some of the performers and organizers on the day.

AL GORE (Organizer/East Rutherford, New Jersey) - "Today 2 billion of us have come together in over 130 countries on seven continents. ... Ladies and gentlemen, times like these demand action, please sign the Live Earth pledge."

MADONNA (Singer/London) - "I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Al Gore ... for giving the world the wake-up call it so badly needs and for starting an avalanche of awareness that we are running out if time. Let's hope tonight's concert, and the concerts going on all around the world, are not just about entertainment."

LEONARDO DI CAPRIO (Actor/East Rutherford, New Jersey) - "Global warming is no longer a theory but a reality ... What once seemed like science fiction is now an inconvenient and undeniable truth."

KEVIN BACON (Actor/East Rutherford, New Jersey) - "Today, folks, we are 2 billion strong. All around this planet people are coming together to save themselves and future generations."

CHRIS ROCK (Comedian/London) - "I pray that this event ends global warming the same way that Live Aid ended world hunger."

ADAM LAZZARA (Taking Back Sunday/East Rutherford) - "This is not a debatable issue we are up against."

TOM CHAPLIN (Keane/London) - "Today is the beginning of a very long journey, but it's going to be a great journey because together we can get off our backsides and we can do something for the future of mankind and that's a beautiful thing."

PHIL COLLINS (Genesis/London) - "We were asked, and when you're asked to do something like that you've got to come up with an awful lot of reasons to not do it. It's something that affects everybody. These events can bring a lot of attention to something like this."

NEIL FINN (Crowded House/Sydney): "It's the least we can do at this point in the planet's history. It's a groundswell we want to be part of."

JESSE (Japanese rock band RIZE/Tokyo) - "I can't really talk much about being eco-friendly when I'm playing electric guitars that use electricity and drums that are made of wood. But I think we can be aware about not wasting things. My grandmother used to scare me by saying that I'd go blind if I wasted a grain of rice."

ANGELIQUE KIDJO (Benin singer/Johannesburg) - "It's easy to criticize, but what are you doing? Get your butt out there and do something. If we don't do something today, then when there's another tsunami then that cynical person, his a*** is going to be on that wave."

SIMON LE BON (Duran Duran/London) - "As a parent I want a decent world for my kids to grow up in and if we can draw attention to this and make people start doing the things that really count and one of those is putting pressure on the government ... then that will do something."

CARLO SANTONE (Blue King Brown/Sydney) - "It's a revolution, do it. Do it."

HARRY SHEARER (alias Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap/London): "We're premiering our new song called 'Warmer than Hell', which takes the view of the devil coming to Britain and remarking on how warm it is."