@ Join 12.12.12

from: The Gurdian

Eric Clapton and Chris Martin join 12.12.12 lineup

Eric Clapton and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin have been added to the lineup for 12.12.12, next week's telethon for victims of superstorm Sandy. The New York concert will be broadcast to more than one billion viewers worldwide, organisers revealed on Monday.

12.12.12 will "take over" American TV on 12 December, with 34 channels broadcasting the gig. The benefit will also be shown by outlets such as MTV International, Belgium's RTL and Telehit-Televisa. Producers have secured online distribution through YouTube, AOL and MySpace, and the broadcast will even make its way to China, airing via the National Basketball Association. In New York, London and Paris, the event will be shown on Clear Channel's massive digital billboards.

Clapton and Martin complete a lineup that includes many of music's biggest names: Bruce Springsteen, the Who, Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Roger Waters, Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, Eddie Vedder, Billy Joel and Dave Grohl. Tickets are now available for the concert at Madison Square Garden; they start at $150 (£93).

Proceeds from the show will go to the Robin Hood Relief Fund for Sandy victims in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Robin Hood generally funds smaller non-profit organisations who distribute food, blankets, generators and other essential services. As winter begins to set in, thousands of homes still remain without power.

12.12.12 is a joint project by Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, the Madison Square Garden Company and the Weinstein Company. The same partners produced a 2001 telethon for victims of the 9/11 attacks, raising more than $30m (£19m) with performances by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Jay-Z, David Bowie, and the Who.