Rolling Stones to perform in Cuba
March 25, 2016
The Rolling Stones are set to perform their first concert in Cuba on Friday night, a historic moment for a rock band whose music was once banned by the country's Communist government.
Arriving on Thursday alongside his three bandmates, lead singer Mick Jagger told fans that he was happy to be on the island.
"We have performed in many special places during our long career, but this show in Havana will be a milestone for us, and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba, too," the band said in a statement.
The concert, which will be held at the Ciudad Deportivo, follows another historic occasion: US President Barack Obama's visit to the island after decades of frozen relations between Washington and Havana. Obama said the event was the symbolic end of the Cold War, an ideological conflict between capitalist and communist governments that began soon after the end of World War II.
For decades following the Cuban Revolution, ordinary citizens could only listen to rock acts like the Rolling Stones in secret, as their music was banned from the radio.
The concert follows performances in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Mexico.
blc/jr (AP, dpa)