A promise to bring a star-studded show to New York’s Central Park as part of the city’s post-COVID reopening appears to be on the way to being fulfilled, with major headliners announced this week. Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Jennifer Hudson were announced for the event by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday for the concert, which is being curated by music legend Clive Davis.
“It is goingto be a great moment for the city, marking our rebirth, marking our comeback, and it’s going to be one of the greatest Central Park concerts in history,” the mayor said at a news conference.
Springsteen is already performing in the city, having reopened his Springsteen on Broadway in June, the first full capacity Broadway performances since March of last year. “He is beloved in New York City in an extraordinary way even though he happens to come from New Jersey – no one’s perfect,” de Blasio says.
Simon has already participated in one of the most memorable Central Park concerts, taking the stage exactly 30 years ago in August of 1991. That performance was later released as a live album and concert film. Hudson is an Oscar and Grammy winner, rising to stardom after a memorable run on an early iteration of American Idol, followed by a star-making performance in the film Dreamgirls aside Beyonce.
Additional performers for the concert will be announced soon. A specific date has yet to be announced for the show, which is expected to allow both fully vaccinated and non-vaccinated guests who can provide a recent negative COVID test. Most New York events with full capacity are restricting attendance for the time being to fully vaccinated guests, a policy that has drawn protests from some who believe such policies are discriminatory.
