Sandy Relief Concert To Be Rocked By Stars

Music royalty from the Rolling Stones to Kanye West are gathering in New York City for a benefit concert to help victims of Superstorm Sandy, with a worldwide audience expected.

More than two billion people are expected to have access to sold-out "12-12-12" concert, which will be streamed on 30 websites, including YouTube and Yahoo.

The October storm killed at least 125 people, put parts of New York City underwater and left millions of people in several states without heat or electricity for weeks.

Concert performers Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi are native sons of New Jersey, where beach communities were ripped apart.

Billy Joel (New York State of Mind) and Alicia Keys (Empire State of Mind) have signature songs about New York City.

Even Sir Paul McCartney has a New York office and a wife, Nancy Shevell, who spent a decade on the board of the agency that runs New York's public transit system.

Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones has an apartment in the city that was flooded with some two feet (0.6 metres) of water, he said.

"Imagine you hadn't known it was coming," he said in an interview. "It would have been pretty dire. I think it's good to do events to support people in the area where you're very familiar with. I mean, I've been coming here for a long time."

Other artists expected to perform include Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Chris Martin, Roger Waters, Eddie Vedder and The Who.

It is a lineup heavily weighted toward classic rock, which has the kind of fans able to afford a show where ticket prices ranged from \$150 to \$2,500 (£93 to £1,550).

Even with those prices, people with tickets have been offering them for more on broker websites, an attempt at profiteering that producers called "despicable".

Celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Adam Sandler, Jon Stewart, Sean Combs and Leonardo DiCaprio will be on hand to tell stories about the storm and take pledges for donations.

The concert comes a day after the death of sitar master Ravi Shankar , a performer at the 1971 "Concert for Bangladesh," considered the grandfather of music benefits. It was also held in New York City's Madison Square Garden.