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Rocker JOAN JETT sings for troops
from: njcoast.com
by Rick Bird
JOAN JETT mobilized almost as fast as the troops.
The feisty rocker spent almost two weeks in mid-October playing for U.S. troops deploying for the war against terrorism.
Her tour was not as publicized as the visible Concert for New York City, or the USO tour about to be launched by Wayne Newton, but is an example of the extraordinary and swift response from the music community to the events of Sept. 11.
No one's quite sure what the musical effort has raised so far, and it's far from over, with CDs and more concerts planned.
It's not far-fetched to guess that the final tally of benefit concerts and CDs could reach $100 million when it's all added up.
The Concert for New York raised more than $30 million including ticket sales, television rights, corporate sponsorship donations, merchandise sales... and there's a memorabilia auction of items from the event still being held on E-bay.
The United We Stand concert in Washington the same weekend, featuring Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Sean ''P. Diddy'' Combs, the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, raised about $3 million.
That show was broadcast last week on ABC.
(Note: At Michael Jackson's request, ABC had to hurriedly cut his performance out of the ''United'' concert special, a spokesperson said. Jackson asked for his performance to be cut because his own concert special is planned to air Nov. 13 on CBS.)
Ticket sales and fund-raising from the Oct. 21 Nashville charity concert, which featured Martina McBride, have not been tallied.
Canadian artists held a benefit Oct. 21, that raised $1.1 million.
The Concert Without Borders featured Canadians:
Alanis Morissette ; Barenaked Ladies ; Bruce Cockburn.
Wayne Newton replaces Bob Hope as the head of the USO's celebrity tour leaving Nov. 12 for a week-long overseas tour bringing along:
Jessica Simpson ; Neal McCoy; comedian Rob Schneider.
Now the CDs are hitting.
Two weeks ago ''God Bless America,'' featuring the studio arrangement of the song Celine Dione sang at the ''Heroes'' telethon broadcast and other songs from the program, was released and quickly became the No. 1 selling album in the country.
The disc features an eclectic mix of Columbia artists including:
Bruce Springsteen; Frank Sinatra; Bob Dylan; and, of course, Lee Greenwood (''God Bless the USA'').
Next up is a soundtrack from the ''Heroes'' broadcast, which featured artists in acoustic settings with no studio audience.
The ''What's Going On'' re make, spearheaded by U2's Bono, is a ''We Are the World''-style project featuring two dozen pop stars released three weeks ago. Originally it was intended as a worldwide AIDS benefit, but now half the proceeds go to the Sept. 11 funds. Also due by Thanksgiving is the soundtrack to the Concert for New York.
Meanwhile, Ms. Jett in her own low-key way, has become a tireless supporter of U.S. troops. On the night she played to a sparse chilled crowd 10 days ago in the Main Street Entertainment District, few in the audience realized the show was her first stop after a 10-day tour playing for U.S. troops involved in the recent military mobilization.
Ms. Jett's long-time producer/manager, KENNY LAGUNA, could not say where they have been. ''We're not supposed to say. Shows were both in and out of this country,'' he said.
''I know it sounds silly, but the Pentagon wants it kept secret since we were performing for deployed troops.''
Ms. Jett was flown around in a Navy plane and it's known one of the sites was at the U.S. Guantanamo base in Cuba.
Ms. Jett has been quietly performing for American troops for years.
In just the last year she has played for troops in Turkey, Oman, Bahrain, Bosnia, Kosovo and Italy, plus at bases across the U.S.
''We celebrated Thanksgiving in Turkey last year,'' Laguna said. ''There's a concept.''
Ms. Jett's tune ''Don't Surrender,'' released in 1992, has recently become a big hit on Armed Forces Radio.
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