Christina Aguilera, Sting + More Perform at Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Telethon [VIDEOS]
If you could assemble the perfect concert, chances are good it would include Sting, Christina Aguilera, Billy Joel, Mary J. Blige and Bruce Springsteen -- and Friday night saw that group and more use their powers for good when they performed on Friday night's Hurricane Sandy special, with all money benefiting the Red Cross.
Hosted by 'Today' anchor Matt Lauer, NBC's 'Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together' kicked off with Staten Island native Aguilera's heartfelt rendition of her gorgeous hit 'Beautiful,' followed by Jersey boy Jon Bon Jovi's performances of 'Who Says You Can't Go Home' and 'Living on a Prayer.'
Later on, Steven Tyler and his Aerosmith bandmates Joe Perry and Brad Whitford did 'Dream On,' and Sting (and his bulging biceps) played guitar on an acoustic version of the Police track 'Message in a Bottle.' We also saw Billy Joel perform 'Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)' -- a 1976 song whose lyrics were almost presciently written to fit the current tragedy.
The brilliant Mary J. Blige, who was born in the Bronx, sang the moving 'The Living Proof,' and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band closed the hour-long broadcast with 'Land of Hope and Dreams.'
In between, we saw heart-wrenching clips of the people dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy -- and, perhaps as necessary comic relief to keep us all from dissolving into despondent sobs, stars like Jon Stewart, Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon also appeared. Fallon even gamely joined Tyler, Joel and Springsteen on 'Under the Boardwalk,' causing Stewart to call his fellow late-night host a "brave man."
So far, the Red Cross has reportedly received some $50 million in donations to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. If you'd like to pitch in, visit RedCross.org, call 800-RED-CROSS, or contribute $10 to the cause by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999.
Watch the 'Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together' performances below.