Gary Graff, Detroit
Billboard.com

An array of artists, including Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, will take part in the first annual Show Of Peace Concert, a globally televised event that will take place April 17 before an expected crowd of 100,000 at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing, China.

More performers and other details will be announced at a Jan. 13 press conference in Beijing. The concert's official web site lists nearly five dozen target artists to be invited, including Prince, Green Day, Beyonce, Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas, Kenny Chesney, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake and many others.

The concert, which marks the 30th anniversary of the cultural exchange agreement between the United States and China, is billed in a statement as "a 'peace is green' awareness campaign designed to not only promote peace with each other but to promote peace with our planet." It's the brainchild of television and music producer Rick Garson, whose Las Vegas-based ZZYX Entertainment company is producing the show. Garson's co-producers include Live 8 and Live Earth principal Greg Sills and artists manager Trudy Green (Michael and Janet Jackson, Mick Jagger, Aerosmith). Other organizations involved in the concert include the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, the United Nations' Pathways of Peace and the Captain Planet Foundation."

Garson is establishing the A Show Of Peace Foundation, whose board of directors will include environmental and peace-building experts. The foundation will distribute funds raised from the concert and other activities to organizations and initiatives. In a statement Garson said that "the passion and attitude of the Chinese people and the potential of this country made me realize that this was the right place to stage an event, as we watch the transformation of Red China to 'Green' China right before our eyes."

The concert's web site, showofpeace.com, will carry regular updates about the event.