Amnesty International and Warner Bros. Records Partner With Spin Magazine to Sponsor “Bed-In for Peace” at This Weekend’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
BURBANK, CA (rushprnews) — April 30, 2007 Coachella Event First in a Series of “Bed-Ins for Peace” Taking Place at Summer Festivals Around the World; “Bed-Ins” to Promote June 12 Release of John Lennon Covers Album “Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur”.
 Inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s historic “Bed-Ins for Peace” 38 years ago, Amnesty International and Warner Bros. Records will create a series of events featuring a variety of artists at music festivals around the world this summer.
The events will promote the release of “Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur,” a collection of iconic songs by former Beatle and peace activist John Lennon recorded by an array of best-selling artists including U2, Green Day, R.E.M., Avril Lavigne, Big & Rich, and Snow Patrol, among others. The double album is due out on Warner Bros. Records June 12.
In keeping with its long tradition of combining music with activism, Amnesty International, the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization, is launching this campaign to focus attention and mobilize activism around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan. The “Bed-Ins for Peace” and “Instant Karma” events center on saving the lives of innocent women, children and men who are dying by the thousands in the region.
The first “Bed-In,” co-sponsored by Spin Magazine, will take place this weekend, April 27-29, at the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA and will feature interviews and photographs with artists while sitting in bed. Similar events will be held around the globe this summer. Meiert Avis, who has worked with artists such as Bruce Springsteen and U2, will document the event with both video and still photography. Photographs taken at the events will be featured in an online photo gallery.
The original “Bed-Ins for Peace” were two well-publicized week-long events held in 1969 by newlyweds Lennon and Ono as a way to non-violently protest wars and promote peace. The international press were invited into the couple’s hotel suites in Amsterdam and Montreal where they found Lennon and Ono sitting in bed talking about peace.
“John and Yoko held their bed-ins to send a plea for peace. Today, that symbol is being revived to highlight our fervent hope and campaign to bring peace and security to the desperate human rights situation in Darfur, Sudan,” said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International U.S.A. “Together, Amnesty International and these amazing artists seek to spark a demand for justice and action to end the suffering.”
Amnesty International views the recreated “Bed-Ins” as an inspired way to raise awareness about the situation in Darfur through paying tribute to Lennon and Ono’s activism. Their hope is that this will also inspire a new generation to join Amnesty International and take peaceful action for human rights.
Winner of the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize, Amnesty International is composed of more than 2.2 million human rights activists worldwide. Its members protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. Amnesty International investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public and helps transform societies to create a safer, more just world.
Amnesty International has a long history of activism involving musicians including 1988’s worldwide Human Rights Now! Tour and 1998’s Paris concert, which honored the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, respectively. Collectively, the concerts featured performances by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N’Dour, Alanis Morissette, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and Radiohead.
More details about upcoming “Bed-Ins” will be released soon. To learn more about “Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur” and Amnesty International, please visit www.InstantKarma.org.
www.wbr.com
——————————————————————————–
For more information, please contact:
Carla Sacks
carla@sacksco.com
Ross Clark
ross@sacksco.com
Sacks & Co.
212-741-1000
Brian Bumbery
Warner Bros. Records Publicity
818-953-3203
brian.bumbery@wbr.com
Gwen Fitzgerald
Amnesty International
202-544-0200 ext. 302
fitzgerald@aiusa.org
SOURCE:Â Warner Bros. Records
-END-
RUSH PR NEWS newswire at www.rushprnews.com
