Sting gig to reopen Bataclan concert hall a year after Paris massacre saw 90 music fans slaughtered by ISIS fanatics
Former Police frontman says one year anniversary gig will honour the memory of those who lost their lives at the venue
BRITISH musician Sting will re-open the Paris concert hall where 90 people were murdered by Islamic State terrorists a year ago, it was announced today.
The 65-year-old former lead singer of The Police said he was honoured to be headlining an anniversary concert at the Bataclan on Saturday next week.
It was one of numerous venues hit in a night of carnage in which a total of 130 people were slaughtered by gunfire and suicide bombs.
In a statement on his website, Sting said: “In re-opening the Bataclan, we have two important tasks to reconcile.
“First, to remember and honour those who lost their lives in the attack a year ago.
“And second to celebrate the life and the music that this historic theatre represents.
“In doing so we hope to respect the memory as well as the life affirming spirit of those who fell.
“We shall not forget them.”
The singer will be joined by a three-piece band, performing songs from his new album 57th & 9th.
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All money made from the show will be donated to two charities working with victims of the Paris attacks, the statement added.
130 people were killed across Paris when a group of jihadis launched a series of bloody and indiscriminate attacks on the evening of 13 November 2015.
In total, six venues were attacked in the space of 20 minute, including several packed bars and restaurants, and the Stade de France stadium where the French national football team were taking on Germany.
Loud booms were audible on the TV as suicide bomber blew themselves up outside the ground after being denied entry.
The shocking video showed French passport holder Brahim Abdeslam, 31, walk into the restaurant at 9:40pm on the Friday evening.
The vast majority of those who died on that fateful Friday night were at a doomed Eagles of Death Metal gig at the now infamous concert hall.
Witnesses described three attackers – later identified as Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, Samy Animour, 28, and Foued Mohamed-Aggad, 23 –arriving in a black Volkswagen Polo.
The jihadis stormed into the venue and began firing their AK-47-type assault rifles indiscriminately into the crowd of 1,500 people.
The men eventually detonated their suicide belts after a stand-off with cops, bringing the infamous night to its bloody conclusion.
All of the attackers involved in the atrocities in the French capital that evening were killed or committed suicide, apart from one.
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