David Bowie tribute concert draws stars in Carnegie Hall

An all-star tribute concert to David Bowie, announced shortly before he died, has been held in New York, the BBC reports.

The concert in Carnegie Hall was announced on 10 January as a retrospective of Bowie’s life.

But hours later, the singer’s family announced his death from cancer. The concert then quickly sold out.

Among the acts performing were the Flaming Lips, Pixies, Debbie Harry, Cyndi Lauper and former REM singer Michael Stipe.

Such was the demand, a second concert was added for Friday night at Radio City Music Hall that will be broadcast online.

The annual tribute concerts, that have previously focused on acts including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Joni Mitchell, were set up to raise money for charity.

Organisers were overwhelmed by requests by performers keen to take part after Bowie’s death.

“We felt kind of awkward because we are usually so humbly grateful to anyone who wants to participate in this,” producer Michael Dorf said.

One scheduled act, hip-hop band The Roots, pulled out of the shows on Thursday, after accusing another unnamed group of refusing to allow them to use their equipment.