Live Nation and veteran record label boss and music producer Clive Davis have been recruited by New York City mayor Bill Blasio to work on a live music concert for 60,000 people in the city’s Central Park to celebrate its reopening after the pandemic shutdown.

The lineup of acts for the three-hour event has not yet been announced but it has the working title of the Official NYC Homecoming Concert in Central Park, according to a report in the New York Times.

The concert will primarily be free to attend, with some VIP passes available for purchase. The newspaper reported that the concert will have sections for vaccinated and unvaccinated attendees, with around 70% of tickets going to vaccinated individuals.

One of the most highly respected figures in the music industry, 89-year-old Davis has worked with numerous artists including Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and Alicia Keys. Meanwhile, the past half century has seen Central Park used for major public concerts by acts including Simon & Garfunkel and Elton John.

“I can’t think of a better place than the Great Lawn of Central Park to be the place where you say that New York is reopening,” Davis told the Times.

Speaking at a news conference Blasio said, “This is going to be an amazing, memorable once-in-a-lifetime week in New York City.”

Speaking at a separate news conference, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said New York state would lift most remaining Covid-19 restrictions when 70% of residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which is only 1.4% beyond the current rate.

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