In the end, Bruce Springsteen did not sing “My City’s in Ruin,” which he did for the 9/11 telethon. Nor did he do “Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).”For the “Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together” telethon on the NBC Universal channels Monday, he chose instead the uplift of “Land of Hopes and Dreams,” concluding the hour long event by saying “God bless New York, God bless the Jersey shore.”
Springsteen does have a song called “Living Proof” but it wasn’t the same one Mary J. Blige sang called “The Living Proof.”
Some sang their hits: Christina Aguilera did “Beautiful”; Jon Bon Jovi did “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Steven Tyler sang “Dream On” on the piano. And Sting did an acoustic version of “Message in a Bottle” that he sang at a benefit more than 20 years ago, the Secret Policeman’s Other Ball in 1981.
Matt Lauer hosted the event that also included appearances by Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny DeVito, Brian Williams and Kevin Bacon.
Jimmy Fallon headed the big star moment of the event, though with a version of “Under the Boardwalk” with Billy Joel, Springsteen and Tyler.
Money for storm relief can be sent to redcross.org.