What would you do for a million dollars? Chances are, at some time in your life you have asked someone this question, or have been asked yourself. At the root of it, is the desire to see how far a person will go and how much they are willing to sacrifice, to become richer.
As the world watches Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi order soldiers and aircraft to fire upon his own people, the question is of particular concern to the musical artists who have performed for the Libyan dictator’s sons.
Nelly Furtado announced via Twitter, that she will donate the $1 million she received from the “Qaddafi clan” in 2007 for performing a 45 minute show at an Italian hotel. Furtado’s announcement will potentially pressure other artists who have played for the Qaddafi family to follow suit.
In 2009, Beyonce performed at a New Year’s party thrown by Muammar Qaddafi’s son, Muatassim in St Barts. The international superstar’s management (#2 on Forbes’ Celebrity 100 ) confirmed that she performed for the party, and “past performers in St. Bart’s have included Timbaland, Enrique Iglesias and Mariah Carey,” though she remains mum on whether the reported $2 million she was paid for the gig is true. The R & B singer Usher was also in attendance and performed the night’s countdown in front of a number of notable guests, including Lindsey Lohan, Russell Simmons, and Jay-Z.
According to a Wikileaks cable reported by The New York Times, a year earlier Mariah Carey was paid $1 million to sing four songs, far more than she would earn from a typical gig in the United States. Other artists who lent their voices to Libyan royalty are Timbaland, Enrique Iglesias, 50 cent and Lionel Richie.
Celebrities are not politicians and we often get annoyed when they try to be, but it will be interesting to see if in the next few days, these performers reconsider what they would do for a million bucks.
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