Ms. Lauryn Hill and Fugees’ bandmate Wyclef Jean will headline Global Citizen’s antipoverty festival

Lauryn Hill and her Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean have been announced as headliners for this fall's Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park. The political and socially conscious musicians will perform at an event aimed at pressuring world leaders to fund various poverty alleviation initiatives. Joining them on September 26 are Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey, and the K-pop group Tomorrow X Together.

This is the first festival for Global Citizen since they produced the World Cup's first halftime show, which raised over $60 million for an education fund launched with FIFA. The festival's priorities include mobilizing funds for education, food security, and clean energy in the Indo-Pacific region. The U.S., once the world's largest aid donor, is notably absent from the list of countries facing specific requests for contributions.

Global Citizen co-founder Hugh Evans expressed optimism about the future of political leadership and the potential for power to be wielded positively, referencing the Spider-Man mantra: "with great power comes great responsibility."