WATCH: Earth Day 1990 Concert Highlights

Watch R.E.M., The B-52’s, John Denver and others perform in Manhattan and Washington DC 30 years ago today

April 22, 2020April 22, 2020 Ron Hart 1 Comment 000 Maniacs, 10, 10000 Maniacs, Earth Day, John Denver, Michael Stipe, Michelle Shocked, Natalie Merchant, R.E.M., The Indigo Girls, Ziggy Marley

This year commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day gathering in New York City.

But on this day in 1990, two massive rallies were held in Central Park in Manhattan and Washington DC’s Merriweather Post Pavilion to raise awareness of the day’s crucial importance against the pushback of Corporate America. It’s a fight that sadly, 30 years later, has gotten no less easier to fight.

However, let these clips featuring rare performances from the likes of Michael Stip . Billy Bragg, 10,000 Maniacs, The Indigo Girls, The Roches and The B-52’s show you how serious this generation was and continues to be as we still battle the power men and the Money-Go-Round for an ecologically sound planet. The concert in Central Park, which also featured acts like Hall and Oates, Edie Brickell and Ben E. King, drew an estimated crowd of 750,000 people to the park.

“It’s a sad state of affairs when it’s up to the entertainment industry to bring these issues to the forefront,” Stipe said in a press conference aired at the time by MTV News. “Our political leaders and the legislation they are passing is where this should be addressed.”