New York, NY – August 23, 2017 – Global Citizen, together with the Harrison Family, today announced Annie Lennox as the recipient of the 2017 George Harrison Global Citizen Award.
The honor will be presented on September 18th at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City during Global Citizen Live, an event where world leaders, leading advocates, and acclaimed artists will convene to celebrate the impact achieved by millions of Global Citizens and make significant commitments in the fight to end extreme poverty.
The George Harrison Global Citizen Award is a prestigious honour awarded to an artist who has demonstrated excellence in music and activism over the course of their career. In 2016, Paul Simon presented the inaugural George Harrison Global Citizen Award to the late George Harrison posthumously, in honor of his decades of tireless advocacy on behalf of the world’s poor. Harrison’s wife, Olivia Harrison, and son, Dhani Harrison, accepted the award on his behalf.
Global Citizen Live and the George Harrison Global Citizen Award mark the start of Global Citizen Weekculminating with the Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park. The 2016 honour was awarded during an evening that celebrated advocacy and impact, with live music curated by Tom Morello (Prophets of Rage) and Jon Batiste (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert).
Global Citizen Week runs September 17-23, and will see New York City turn into an arena of advocacy, with dozens of events and activations uniting global citizens to learn, take action, and see world leaders commit to deliver a world without extreme poverty by 2030.
The events are timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly, shining a light on pressing issues to be debated by the world’s top diplomats including education, gender equality, and foreign aid. Proud partners of Global Citizen Week include: Gucci and CHIME FOR CHANGE, MSNBC & Comcast NBCUniversal, Live Nation, Johnson & Johnson, Citi, HP, Cadillac, T-Mobile, iHeartMedia, NYC Parks, lululemon, P&G, The New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, Bira 91, Universal Music Group, the Empire State Building, Forbes, Billboard, the Guardian, The New York Times, Omaze, Salesforce, TOMS, and Tribeca Enterprises.
A full list of events and activations can be found at globalcitizen.org//festival/gcweek/
The 2017 Global Citizen Festival will be headlined by Stevie Wonder, Green Day, The Killers, The Lumineers, and The Chainsmokers, with special guest performances by Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, Andra Day and Alessia Cara.
For more information about The George Harrison Global Citizen Award, Global Citizen Live, or the 2017 Global Citizen Festival, please visit www.globalcitizen.org.