The Rolling Stones will wrap up their America Latina Ole tour with a historic concert performance in Havana, Cuba later this month. Led by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the legendary group will give a free concert at the Ciudad Deportiva de la Habana for the first open air concert in the country by a British rock band.
The "Concert for Amity" is set for Friday, March 25 will feature a set list full of classic Stones hits from a career spanning more than 50 years. The concert will be filmed and produced by production company JA Digital with Paul Dugdale directing.
Plans for the Cuban concert had been in the works for several months and their announcement comes less than two weeks after President Barack Obama announced his own upcoming trip to the country, the first sitting U.S. president to visit the island nation since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
"We have performed in many special places during our long career but this show in Havana is going to be a landmark event for us, and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba too," the band said in a statement.
The America Latina Ole tour has included stops in Santiago, Chile; Monevideo, Uruguay; and Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre, Brazil. They will also perform for fans in Lima, Peru; Bogotá, Colombia; and Mexico City before landing in Cuba.
The Rolling Stones are also leading a "musician to musician initiative" to collect musical instruments and equipment for Cuban musicians. Donors have included The Gibson Foundation, Vic Firth, RS Berkeley, Pearl, Zildjian, Gretsch, Latin Percussion, Roland and BOSS as well as the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation.
Rumors of a potential Rolling Stones concert popped up in October when Jagger was spotted in Havana. He took part in the nightclub scene and it was believed he was scouting possible venue locations. The Ciudad Deportiva is a sports complex built in 1957 and home to Cuba's national volleyball team.
The Rolling Stones concert follows a few American performers entering the country since Obama restored diplomatic relations with the country in December 2014 after a more than 50-year freeze out. The U.S. also trade restrictions and relaxed travel, which has allowed entertainers such as Conan O'Brien and the Showtime series "House of Lies" to film there.
