All five living former presidents will participate in a hurricane relief concert at Texas A&M’s Reed Arena on Oct. 21.
The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation said that Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama will be featured at the concert. A spokesman for George H.W. Bush said that all five presidents are scheduled to appear together on stage, but the emphasis will be on the music.
Lee Greenwood will emcee the event, called “Deep From the Heart: The One America Appeal,” and on the bill are Alabama, the Gatlin Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Sam Moore, Yolanda Adams, Cassadee Pope, and Stephanie Quayle.
George H.W. Bush said in a statement that he and his son “and our distinguished colleagues in this ‘One America Appeal’ are very grateful to these wonderful performers — some of them old friends, some of them new — for giving their time and talent to help the urgent cause of hurricane recovery in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean. It’s important that those affected by these devastating storms know that, even if the path to recovery feels like a road that goes on forever, we’re with them for the long haul.”
The former presidents launched a One America Appeal campaign on Sept. 7 to raise money for hurricane relief via oneamericaappeal.org. They also appeared in a public service announcement.
The original intent was to raise money for those affected by Hurricane Harvey, but the efforts have been expanded to include recovery from Hurricane Irma in Florida and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The organization established a restricted account through the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation to collect and distribute donations.
David Jones, the CEO of the foundation, said that every dollar raised through ticket sales for the concert will go to hurricane relief.
It will be a rare meeting of five former presidents.
When George W. Bush was president, his father, Carter, Clinton and Obama met together in the Oval Office just before Obama’s inauguration in 2009. The five men also appeared together in 2013, for the opening of the George W. Bush presidential library.
In 2001, three days after 9/11, George W. Bush was joined by his father, Clinton, Carter and Gerald Ford for a memorial service at Washington’s National Cathedral.
Ten years earlier, when former President Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., he was joined by Ford, Richard Nixon, Carter, and George H.W. Bush, who was then in office.
