'Female Live Aid': Beyoncé, Florence Welch and Jennifer Lopez to join forces for London charity concert

Girl power: Beyoncé, Florence Welch and Jennifer Lopez (Getty Images)

Beyoncé, Florence Welch and Jennifer Lopez will join forces for a “female Live Aid” charity concert in London, designed to “empower” women across the world, which will give ticket-holders the chance to choose which projects they wish to fund.

For the first time, “hypothecation” of ticket revenues will be tested at the Sound of Change concert at Twickenham stadium, organised by Beyoncé, which is designed to improve the life-opportunities for women and young girls in the developing word.

The 70,000 ticket-holders for the June 1 show, which also features Rita Ora and Ellie Goulding, are invited to select a project to fund from the Chime For Change website.

Examples include supporting secondary school scholarships in Ethiopia, helping Syrian refugees gain access to health-care and a project to assist villagers in Mali combat female genital mutilation.

Harvey Goldsmith, the concert promoter, who previously organised Live Aid, told the i: “With Live Aid you had to look through the accounts to find how every penny was spent. With Sound of Change you can follow a project all the way through.

“You just go online, look at the different projects, which come under the heading of Education, Justice or Health and tick a box for the project you support. We will send you updates on where the money is going and what happened with the project. No-one has done this with a concert before.”

All profits from the £95 tickets will go to the good causes, with millions more expected to be donated when the concert is be broadcast by the BBC.

Economists have argued for “hypothecation”, the ear-marking of taxation for particular causes, to be introduced in the UK. Supporters say assigning taxation to environmental causes, or road or hospital building, would allow voters to make a stronger connection between the taxes they pay and the services they receive.

With J-Lo and Beyoncé heading the line-up, the concert also promises a summit between music's greatest divas. “We could fill Twickenham just with their entourages,” joked Goldsmith. “Everyone is going to have a backstage area of their own.”

Beyoncé has embraced her role as a Geldof-style charity activist. “She is involved in every aspect of the show,” said Goldsmith.

“I have always felt strongly about equal opportunity for women. Girls have to be taught from early on that they are strong and capable of being anything they want to be,” said the singer, currently performing a sell-out run at the O2 Arena. “It's up to us to change the statistics for women around the world.”