Watch Robert Downey Jr. join Bruce Springsteen to cover Journey
In 1991, String and his wife, Trudie Styler, started hosting the biennial ‘Rock for the Rainforest’ benefit show in partnership with the Rainforest Foundation Fund. Sting frequently performs at the concerts, and at the 2019 iteration, Robert Downey Jr. and Bruce Springsteen joined him to cover Journey’s classic hit ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’.
The Rock for the Rainforest shows hold the Guinness World Record for being the biggest environmental fundraising event. Even in 2004, it had already raised more than $20 million to benefit the indigenous communities that live in rainforests worldwide.
The concerts usually occur at the famous Carnegie Hall in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, but the 2019 iteration was held at the Beacon Theatre in the Golden Apple instead. As well as boasting the likes of Downey Jr. and Springsteen, that year saw the likes of James Taylor, Ricky Martin, John Mellencamp, Shaggy, H.E.R. and Eurythmics also join the bill.
Discussing his reasons for hosting the show in 2019, Sting criticised the Brazilian government for not taking good care of its rainforests. “Amazonia is on fire at an unprecedented rate,” he said. “80% up from last year and with 39% more deforestation – and the world is suddenly taking notice. Populist leaders citing nationalist agendas, or claiming that climate change and its handmaidens are a hoax, are guilty of much more than standing by and doing nothing. This is criminal negligence on a global scale.”
Some have claimed over the years that the Amazon rainforest ought to be treated like the “lungs of the Earth,” in the fact that it helps to reduce the scale of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere, clean it and replace it with oxygen, necessary for growth in both the planet’s flora and fauna.
On this matter, Sting said: “Calling Amazonia the ‘lungs of the Earth’ may not be exactly anatomically correct, but it does convey that it is a vital and irreplaceable link in the chain of wellbeing on our planet in the increasingly narrow band of climatic vectors where human life can survive. We simply cannot afford to let it burn. We are fast approaching the tipping point where the fires will continue to burn and cannot be put out.”
This is a matter close to Sting’s heart, and he specifically called out the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who had “openly voiced that he is no friend to the indigenous people and now he is reneging on land treaties already signed, opening up new territories and dismantling the scientific and human rights organisations in Brazil.”
To get a feel for the concert, check out footage of Downey Jr., Springsteen, Sting and John Mellencamp performing the classic Journey song ‘Don’t Stop Believing’’ below.
