Imagine all the people paying tribute to John Lennon at once, and you won’t be far off from what will actually take place at Imagine: John Lennon 75th Birthday Concert. According to Variety, the celebration of what would have been Lennon’s diamond jubilee will air on AMC at 9 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2015 and will take place Dec. 5, 2015 at Madison Square Garden.
The lonnnnnnggg list of performers includes Aloe Blacc, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers, Peter Frampton, Juanes, Kris Kristofferson, Train’s Pat Monahan, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Willie Nelson, The Roots, Chris Stapleton, and Steven Tyler. If you can read that all in one breath, we salute you — and you may have a future as an auctioneer.
Kidding aside, the length of the lineup is a testament to the tremendous impact that Lennon had on the music landscape and on society at large, as today’s most influential performers are still inspired by the things that the iconic musician imagined.
“We are proud to be associated with this special event, and to bring ‘Imagine: John Lennon 75th Birthday Concert’ to AMC viewers,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development, AMC and SundanceTV. “We are continuing to explore unique opportunities in non-fiction programming and special events that can live alongside our original productions and movies, and we know this remarkable event will do just that and attract Lennon fans and music lovers of all ages.”
It will be particularly interesting to see what artists like The Roots and Juanes will contribute, given how different their musical styles are from those of the honoree, but that’s part of what makes this whole event so cool. There has been no word yet on who will sing/perform what, but one thing is for sure: There will be a special sort of energy flowing through the world’s most famous arena come Dec. 5, 2015.
