MUMBAI: Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige and Akon are among the first group of artistes who will feature in the Michael Jackson tribute concert on 26 September 26 in Vienna. The show is being put together by the late pop singer‘s brother Jermaine Jackson.
Organizers of the show also announced that veteran actors like Natalie Cole and Sister Sledge will perform outside the 17th-century palace of Schönbrunn in the Austrian capital.
The first group of performers also includes boy band US 5, protégés of imprisoned boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman, and actress Angela Bassett, who portrayed family matriarch Katherine Jackson in the TV-film The Jacksons: An American Dream.
The performers will be backed by Jackson‘s touring band with whom he had rehearsed for weeks before his untimely death on 25 June at the age of 50.
Jermaine will sing a virtual duet with his late brother that he promises will be a "magic moment for all who loved his music." Among the songs that will performed by various artistes are Man in the Mirror, Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller, Black or White, Earth Song, Smooth Criminal, Bad, Dirty Diana, Will You Be There, You Are Not Alone, Remember the Time, Heal the World, The Girl Is Mine and Scream.