David Crosby, Joe Walsh To Perform At Benefit Concert For 50th Anniversary Of Kent State Shootings

David Crosby and Joe Walsh have announced that they will perform at a benefit concert marking the 50th anniversary of the Kent State University shootings that left four students dead and nine injured.

The concert is scheduled for May 2nd at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center on campus, almost 50 years to the day since an anti-Vietnam demonstration at the college erupted in gunfire from the National Guard on May 4th, 1970. In 1970, Crosby was a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, who recorded the anthem “Ohio”, which Neil Young wrote after he saw the graphic images from Kent on the cover of Life magazine.

At the time, Walsh was an English major at the university and was at Kent State during the shootings. “After that, I didn’t look at college the same,” he said. “Being at the shootings really affected me profoundly. I decided that maybe I don’t need a degree that bad.”

Walsh will perform with Barnstorm, a trio that he formed after leaving the James Gang in 1972. The band also features bassist Kenny Passarelli and drummer Joe Vitale, the latter of whom attended Kent State in 1970 and was present during the shooting. Crosby will perform alongside his solo band, who will begin a North American tour shortly after the benefit show.

The event will raise money for the May 4 Legacy Scholarships, which awards grants to four students majoring in the Peace and Conflict Studies program every year. Each individual scholarship is named after one of the students who was killed on May 4th, 1970: Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder.

“We wanted to make sure the artists we brought in for the concert had a strong understanding of the history of May 4, 1970, and a commitment to helping raise funds for the scholarships,” project manager Rod Flauhaus said. “Artists like Joe Walsh and David Crosby provided the soundtrack for both those that went to fight in the Vietnam War and for those who were against it. Their music was the common thread that helped to raise national awareness, inspire activism and helped us to heal as a nation.”

Tickets for the benefit concert go on sale Friday, March 6th at 10 a.m. through the university’s website.

[H/T Rolling Stone]