Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now! Tour, a star-studded world tour intended to inspire nations to obey human rights agreements, kicked off on September 2, 1988, in London.
Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N’Dour were the core of the traveling lineup. Others such as Joni Mitchell and kd lang appeared at later dates.
Veteran LA Times music critic Robert Hilburn (who had seen some things) called it the “most distinguished multi-act concert ever put on the road.”
The opening night show was an epic six-hour concert in front of 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium. The tour celebrated the 40th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
What made the undertaking truly unique was instead of creating just another fundraising benefit concert, the 20-show project highlighted Amnesty’s work as a way to educate attendees about the lack of human rights around the globe.
Over the initial six weeks of the tour, the musicians journeyed over 35,000 miles through 15 countries on five continents, spreading the message to over 1 million good souls.
Springsteen, Sting, Gabriel, Chapman and N'Dour opened the Wembley show by covering Bob Marley's “Get Up, Stand Up" acapella, setting the tone that the night would not be a typical concert.
Youssou N’Dour
The Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and politician in 1988 said he appreciated "those who say what they think and who have had the courage to not yield to pressure" and that through his travels he realized how few knew "how important this organization is in the struggle for human rights. Amnesty International is virtually the backbone of this struggle," he said in a statement.
"In Dakar in 1970, when I was younger, I remember a man named Oumar Blondin Diop, who was imprisoned for his political beliefs," N'Dour recalled.
"He died in prison, which created a very tense situation in Dakar. Since I lived near the cemetery where he was buried, I experienced the fifteen-day police take-over solely aimed at preventing youths from gathering at Diop's tomb. That chain of events left a deep impression on my views of human rights violations."
Tracy Chapman
"People all over the world are imprisoned for their political beliefs. I think mostly, people are unaware of that," the singer songwriter whose self titled debut smash album came out in the Spring of '88 said at the beginning of the tour.
"They don't think it exists and this is where, maybe this tour is gonna help because they don't understand really how much simply writing letters and calling people does. Y'know it really puts pressure on government officials to do what they can to let these people out," she said.
Her set was almost entirely from that stark debut album and perfectly matched to the serious tone of the show and tour.
After the tour another longtime activist singer songwriter asked her to open for him: Bob Dylan.
Peter Gabriel
What the former frontman said 38 years ago, sadly is true today: "The world in which we live is full or injustice, oppression, deprivations, and atrocities against people. In every country there are men, women, and children who have no voice and whose basic rights are ignored or abused."
He continued by saying, "40 years ago the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although it has been used as a framework of ideals, it does not have the force of law. This document needs to be given real life and strength. With your help this tour can achieve that."
During several dates when Gabriel would perform either "Biko" or "In Your Eyes," he invited N'Dour to sing it with him. It was a relationship that started before the tour and lasted decades later.
When Peter was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2014, he had Youssou sing with him. It would be the 23rd time the pair shared a stage together.
Sting
"I don't belong to a church or political party or a group or any kind," Gordon Sumner, just four years removed from fronting the Police said.
"I feel that Amnesty International is the most civilized organization in history. Its currency is the written word. Its weapon is the letter; that's why I am a member. I believe in its non-violence; I believe in its effectiveness. its dignity and its sense of commitment. Its focus on individuals and the concentration and tenacity with which they defend those imprisoned for their ideas has earned it the cautious respect of repressive governments throughout the world."
While he probably would have preferred to have only sung solo material, there were several tunes he had written during his time in The Police that were apropos to the tour.
On opening night he performed four Police songs: "King of Pain," "One World (Not Three)," "Bring On the Night," and "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around." But his newer solo material also fit nicely, especially "Fragile" and "They Dance Alone."
Bruce Springsteen
One reason the nights were so long on the tour was because The Boss played an entire Springsteen-sized set. While Sting, Gabriel and Chapman's setlists were 8-songs long, Bruce's was 17.
For the most part it was a slightly scaled down version of what he and E Street performed on the Born in the USA tour - with four tracks from that monster album. But he also added in the covers of The Temptations' "War" and so as give a reason to party, "The Land of 1,000 Dances."
He ended the set, and the night, with his own version of "Get Up Stand Up," which at Wembley was a live debut for the Jersey son and his band.
When the tour moved into North America, it picked up special guests at nearly every stop. Canadian country singer k.d. lang joined the Toronto and Montreal concerts on 9/15 and 9/17, where she knocked out an intense cover of Roy Orbison’s “Crying.”
Joan Baez took part in the shows in Philadelphia on 9/19, LA on 9/21 and Oakland on 9/23. Aside from playing her own music she covered John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” At the Oakland gig she did a duet with Springsteen on Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
Bono joined Baez and the tour’s headliners for “Chimes of Freedom” and “Get Up, Stand Up” at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
Roy Orbison's ears must have been burning, so he did a short set in Oakland where he did “Only the Lonely,” “Leah,” “Dream Baby” and “In Dreams.” Then he and Baez led the stadium into serenading Springsteen with “Happy Birthday," who had turned 39 that day.
1988 Human Rights Now! Tour
Sept. 2, Wembley Stadium, London, England
Sept. 4, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
Sept. 5, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
Sept. 6, Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary
Sept. 8, Stadio Comunale, Turin, Italy
Sept. 10, Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
Sept. 13, Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica
Sept. 15, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada
Sept. 17, Stade Olympique, Montreal, Canada
Sept. 19, John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 21, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Sept. 23, Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA
Sept. 27, Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Sept. 30, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi, India
Oct. 3, Olympiako Stadio, Athens, Greece
Oct. 7, National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe
Oct. 9, Stade Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Oct. 12, Estádio Palestra Itália, São Paulo, Brazil
Oct. 14, Estadio Mundialista de Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina
Oct. 15, Estadio River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina
