HOLLYWOOD - If Bruce Springsteen's candlelit acoustic performance of "My City Ruins" brought a tear to your eye, and Fred Durst and John Rzeznik's duet of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" made you think of the thousands of victims that have yet to be found following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, you will soon be able to hear it all again. The benefit TV show America: A Tribute to Heroes is being packaged into an album to raise additional relief dollars, organizers told Reuters on Wednesday.
Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, is currently overseeing efforts to obtain rights for the album from the musicians who appeared on the show.
The only rights initially obtained from performers were for the show itself, according to a spokeswoman for the telethon.
Bon Jovi, Sting, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, U2, Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Neil Young and Eddie Vedder performed during the show.
The two-hour show was simulcast on 35 U.S. broadcast and cable networks, as well as some 8,000 radio stations, and beamed live to more than 210 countries around the globe.
America: A Tribute to Heroes raised more than $150 million in pledges for a special relief fund established for victims of the aerial attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
As with the telethon, 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of the benefit album will go to the relief fund, said Barbara Brogliatti, a spokeswoman for the telethon.
"It's being done as soon as possible. They're working on it as fast as humanly possible,'' she said.
But not all the artists who wanted to perform at the show got a chance to do so. A prime example is pop star Michael Jackson, Brogliatti told Reuters.
"No one was turned down because we didn't want them there. There were a lot of logistical reasons why a lot of people ... couldn't be there."
Some artists were left out due to a limited number of performance slots, which were booked up in 24 hours, she said.
Instead, Jackson spent his time working on "What More Can I Give,'' a song he composed to aid survivors and families of victims of the terrorist attacks. Among the artists joining him in the studio were Destiny's Child, Reba McEntire, Tom Petty, Brian McKnight, Seal and Boyz II Men.