As part of the third annual Daniel Pearl Music Day, Elton John and R.E.M. will dedicate shows this month to American journalist Pearl, who was executed by Pakistani terrorists while on assignment for the Wall Street Journal in early 2002.
John will perform his classic "Daniel" at a Las Vegas concert, and R.E.M. will offer up their October 13th show at Los Angeles' Greek Theater in his memory. Hundreds of musicians in nearly thirty countries are also set to take part.
While reporting on the "war on terrorism" in 2002, Pearl was kidnapped by terrorists in Karachi. Weeks later, a videotape surfaced of Pearl's beheading -- a brutal death echoed in recent months by similar executions of American civilians and contractors in Iraq.
In addition to his work as a writer -- his collected essays, At Home in the World, was published months after his death -- Pearl was also a musician, having played the violin, mandolin and fiddle for many years. He used his musical talents to befriend locals wherever he was sent for work, from Paris to Bombay.
Daniel Pearl Music Day was first organized by the Daniel Pearl Foundation, with which John, Herbie Hancock, Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Ravi Shankar, Nobel Peace Prize-winning author Eli Wiesel and former president Bill Clinton are affiliated. The foundation is operated by Pearl's family and widow Mariane -- who was pregnant with their first child, Adam, at the time of Pearl's death -- to promote Pearl's ideal of understanding across cultures.