Lionel Richie will perform in Israel for the first time on March 2 in Tel Aviv.
By DEBORAH DAHANCountry Music Association Awards - Arrivals - Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., 14/11/2018 - Lionel Richie(photo credit: REUTERS/JAMIE GILLIAM)
On March 2, on the day of Israel’s third election, Lionel Richie will perform in Israel, at the Menorah Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv, for the first time, as part of his worldwide “Hello” tour.“Hello Israel, this is Lionel Richie, and I can’t wait to perform in Israel for the first time ever. We’re going to dance all night long. So go to vote and I’ll see you on the second of March in Tel Aviv. See you then,” said the singer.In the summer, Richie received pressure from the anti-Israel group Code Pink not to perform in Israel. Code Pink started a petition accusing Israel of “oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian people” and threatened the singer, saying “if you choose to follow through with your performance in Tel Aviv, it will act as an endorsement of Israel’s brutal systems of military occupation and apartheid.” Richie refused to be intimidated by the group and, instead, blocked Code Pink’s Twitter account.Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists have been pressuring artists to cancel shows in Israel in the past few years. But, while some may have cancelled, others like Jennifer Lopez and Bon Jovi have decided to perform anyway.The 70-year-old singer of "Hello" "Endless Love" and "All Night Long" has won multiple Grammy Awards and has sold more than 100 million copies around the world.
