Joan Baez and Lou Reed sang at a concert in Prague on Saturday celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
Held in a 13th-century church in downtown Prague, the concert was organized by former Czech president Vaclav Havel, the hero of the November 1989 revolution that toppled communist rule in the then-united Czechoslovakia. He was president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1993, and of the Czech Republic from 1993, when Slovakia became independent, until 2003.
Havel, now 73, personally invited U.S. singers Baez and Reed to perform. Both performers had met him before.
Folk singer Baez, whose music has inspired anti-war and human rights movements, and who performed at a concert in Czechoslovakia attended by Havel in 1989, sang We Shall Overcome in both Czech and English to massive applause by an audience that included former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who was born in Prague.
Reed, former lead singer and songwriter of the Velvet Underground, sang his song, Perfect Day, joined by U.S. soprano Renée Fleming.
U.S. songstress Suzanne Vega also performed at the concert.
Video messages from U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev were broadcast during the nationally televised concert, along with greetings from rock stars Mick Jagger and Bono.
The Dalai Lama sent his prayers and expressed hope that Czechs would preserve their courageous spirit.
Anniversary celebrations are expected to peak on Tuesday when students in Prague will re-enact the 1989 student protest march that triggered the end of 40 years of communist rule.
With files from The Associated Press
