On Saturday, September 24th, 55,000 people gathered on the Great Lawn in Central Park, NYC, to attend the Global Citizen Festival. The Festival, founded by Ryan Gall and Hugh Evans and organized by Global Poverty Project, marked its 10 year anniversary in 2022 and was hosted by Priyanka Chopra Jonas. This year’s lineup included local New Jersey natives Charlie Puth and the Jonas Brothers, Long Island’s own Mariah Carey, Texas’ Mickey Guyton, Los Angeles’ Metallica, and even European artists Rosalia (Spain) and Maneskin (Italy).
First to hit the stage were the Jonas Brothers. They opened their set with their 2019 hit, “Only Human,” followed by “What a Man Gotta Do.” The fans went wild when they broke out into their 2008 classic, “Burnin ‘Up.” Nick serenaded the audience with his solo hit, “Jealous” followed by a combined JoBros and DNCE mashup of “Cake By the Ocean.” Finally, the Jersey boy band ended their set with “Leave Before You Love Me” and their 2019 comeback single, “Sucker.”
Next up was another fellow artist from New Jersey, Charlie Puth, who got the crowd singing along to his breakout single, “See You Again.” Puth then sang his latest song, “Left and Right” before getting the festival goers in a “New York State of Mind” with a cover of the famous Billy Joel song.
Mickey Guyton got the crowd nodding their heads to “Different” and “Somethin’ Bout You.” She serenaded the crowd with a song dedicated to her husband, called “Lay it On Me.” Guyton, known to be a country artist, really can lend her voice to other genres. She did a powerful rendition of Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy,” and even got to join headliner Metallica on stage and sing “Nothing Else Matters.”
Celebrating her last day of being 29, and with the crowd singing her “Happy Birthday,” fans went wild for Rosalia. Her set included “La Fama,” “Hentai,” “Candy” and a cover of Justo Betancourt’s song “Delirio De Grandeza.” Catch Rosalia in a city near you on her 2022 Motomami World Tour!
In her diva esque manor we know and love, Mariah Carey strutted on stage to deliver a performance of her greatest hits spanning nearly three decades, including “Obsessed,” “Honey/Heartbreaker,” “Always Be My Baby,” “We Belong Together” and a mashup her and Big Latto’s singles, “Fantasy/Big Energy.” Carey ended her set with her inspirational hit “Hero.” Carey recalled that “Hero” became an “unofficial anthem” following 9/11, “it comforted us in our collective loss and recovery.” Recently revisiting the song, Carey said she now views her song as a tribute to women.
Maneskin had the crowd going crazy from the moment they ran on stage and began to rock out to their 2021 Eurovision winning song “Zitti E Buoni.” When lead singer, Damiano David, began belting the first line of their hit cover of “Beggin,” screams erupted across the Great Lawn, followed by latest single “Supermodel.” Maneskin continued riding the energy of the crowd with “Dance on Gasoline” and finally “I Wanna Be Your Slave.” Maneskin will be on their Loud Kids Tour that runs through North America from October 31st to December 13th.
Last but not least, Metallica rounded out the night with a sweltering set. They opened with “Creeping Death,” then immediately went into “From Whom the Bell Tolls.” After a quick 30 second pause, they began to play their 1991 hit “Enter Sandman.” Other songs on their setlist included “Sad But True,” “The Unforgiven,” “Wherever I May Roam” and “Nothing Else Matters” sung with Mickey Guyton. At last, Metallica closed out their infamous 1986 hit, which recently made a comeback on the charts thanks to Stranger Things season 4’s Eddie Munson (RIP), “Master of Puppets.”
A parallel Global Citizen Festival also took place in Accra, Ghana on the same day and featured Usher, Sza, Stormzy, H.E.R, and several local Ghanian and African artists.