Former Vice President Al Gore, who in recent years has reinvented himself as a crusader against global warming, on Thursday announced a series of worldwide concerts on July 7, 2007, to draw attention to the cause.

Called “Live Earth,” the concerts will feature a virtual who’s who in popular music, including Sheryl Crow, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kelly Clarkson, Snoop Dogg, Foo Fighters, John Mayer, Melissa Etheridge, Pharrell, Fall Out Boy, Korn, Bloc Party, John Legend, AFI, Tim McGraw and the Black Eyed Peas, among others. The shows will take place simultaneously in seven international cities – Washington DC, London, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Johannesburg and Kyoto – and will be broadcast via television, radio and the Internet to an anticipated global audience of more than 2 billion.

The concerts were created by Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection as part of a new activist campaign called Save Our Selves – The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis. Organizers expect the shows to raise awareness of the dangers of global warming, and they will take on a similar tone as the Live 8 shows in 2005 and Live Aid in 1985. Gore made the announcement at a press conference in Los Angeles joined by Pharrell, Cameron Diaz and the concerts producer Kevin Wall.

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