Overview
- Springsteen accepted the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award and apologized on Saturday to Bono for declining to license his 2007 song “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” for Bono’s Gap/(PRODUCT)RED charity ad.
- Bono presented the award and praised Springsteen as a voice of the people, calling him “America” and recounting his past effort to secure the song for the fundraising campaign.
- Patti Smith performed “People Have the Power” with Tony Shanahan and invited Bono and Springsteen to sing backup, and Springsteen closed the event with an acoustic version of “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
- Springsteen framed the honor politically by dedicating the award to protesters in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Portland and saying he was “pissed off and angry” about the federal response and the state of American democracy under President Donald J. Trump.
- The apology did not include any announced change to licensing or (PRODUCT)RED plans, but the exchange raises renewed public attention on musicians’ licensing choices for charity campaigns and on the link between popular music and protest activism.