Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon to Headline Central Park Homecoming Concert

Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and Jennifer Hudson will headline the upcoming Central Park Homecoming Concert, scheduled for August at the Great Lawn of the New York City park.

Clive Davis will serve as the booker for the mega-concert, the centerpiece of a weeklong slate of celebrations marking the return of New York City following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is going to be one of the greatest Central Park concerts in history,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference Thursday. “This is something for the ages.”

Coming in August: New York City's Central Park Homecoming Concert on the Great Lawn.

Performers: @PaulSimonMusic, @IAMJHUD, @springsteen, and more!

It's time to return to NYC and celebrate our rebirth.

See ya soon!#SummerOfNYC pic.twitter.com/KnAGt0fHVA

— City of New York (@nycgov) July 1, 2021

While de Blasio didn’t announce the Homecoming Concert’s date, the New York Times reports that the mayor previously scheduled the show for August 21st, a date that is also one of the openings on the Springsteen on Broadway schedule. The Times also reports that Springsteen and Patti Smith will likely perform together at the Central Park gig.

“[Springsteen] is beloved in New York City, in an extraordinary way, even though he happens to come from [New] Jersey. No one’s perfect,” de Blasio quipped.

Simon retired from touring in 2018, but previously stated he would return to the stage for charitable reasons and special occasions, with the Central Park Homecoming Concert definitely in the latter category: Simon & Garfunkel staged one of the most famous shows in Central Park history when they played a free benefit show in September 1982, attracting a reported half-million fans.

Additional Homecoming Concert performers and events will be announced in the coming weeks.