The Philadelphia Freedom Concert and Ball was an HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

/AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 awareness fund raising event that was held in Philadelphia, USA, on July 4, 2005.

The ball was held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...

 prior to the multi-act concert. Tickets were $1,000 each and included numerous celebrities, including, the orchestrator of the event, Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

. Chefs from the city provided food and entertainment was provided by local groups. The concert itself was held outside the museum, using the stage from the Live 8

Live 8

Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...

 concert only a few days before. VIP

VIP

VIP and V.I.P. is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:-In general:* Vacuum insulated panel* Values, Influence, and Peers, an anti-crime campaign in Ontario elementary schools* Variable Information Printing, a form of on-demand printing...

 tickets costing $500 allowed people to sit in 25 rows set up in front of the stage; otherwise, it was a standing only event. Over a million people attended.

The concert was hosted by Wayne Brady

Wayne Brady

Wayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...

 and Bruce Vilanch

Bruce Vilanch

Bruce Vilanch is an American comedy writer, songwriter and actor. He is a six-time Emmy Award-winner Vilanch is best known to the public for his four-year stint on Hollywood Squares, as a celebrity participant; in the entertainment industry he is best known as head writer for the show...

 and included other guests, such as Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...

. Performing were Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...

, Patti LaBelle

Patti LaBelle

Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...

, Rufus Wainright, Peter Nero

Peter Nero

Peter Nero is an American pianist and pops conductor.-Early life:Born in Brooklyn, New York, As Bernard Nierow, Nero started his formal music training at the age of seven. He studied piano under Frederick Bried...

 and the Philly Pops

Philly Pops

The Philly Pops is an orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Led by two time GRAMMY Award-winningpianist Peter Nero, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops is an entity that consistently brings an enthusiastic response from its audience...

, culminating with a performance by Elton John (who was introduced by long-time friend and AIDS activist Billie Jean King). Elton opened with "The Bitch Is Back

The Bitch Is Back

"The Bitch Is Back" is a rock song by Elton John, written with Bernie Taupin. It was the second single released from his 1974 album Caribou, and reached number 1 in Canada , number 4 in the United States and number 15 in the United Kingdom. The song has been identified as is one of Elton John's...

", followed by "Bennie and the Jets

Bennie and the Jets

"Bennie and the Jets" is a song composed by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. The song is written in the key of G major and first appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. "Bennie and the Jets" has been one of John's most popular songs....

", "Rocket Man", "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues

I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues

"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" is a song by British singer Elton John featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica...

", "Tiny Dancer

Tiny Dancer

"Tiny Dancer" is a 1971 song by Elton John with lyrics by Bernie Taupin. It appears on John's fourth album, Madman Across the Water, and was released as a single in 1972...

", and ended with "Philadelphia Freedom

Philadelphia Freedom (song)

"Philadelphia Freedom" is a song released by Elton John as a single in 1975. The song was one of John's numerous number-one U.S. hit singles during the early and mid-1970s, which saw his recordings dominating the charts. In Canada, it was his eighth single to hit the top of the RPM national...

" with the Philadelphia Pops. The concert was followed by a fireworks display.