Springsteen and Bon Jovi sing for Sandy telethon

Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi are among the big names who’ll take part in a US telethon being staged tonight to raise funds for the victims of tropical storm Sandy.

The natural disaster left 90 dead and caused more than $50bn of damage after raging across the north-east of the United States on Monday. Many areas won’t have electricity for another ten days.

TV network NBC have rushed to put a charity show together, with Springsteen and Bon Jovi joined by Sting, Billy Joel, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey and a host of other entertainers.

The show will be broadcast live, with much of it unrehearsed, at 8pm local time tonight. It will also be streamed online. Funds will be donated to the American Red Cross – Joel has already given $500,000.

Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau confirms he was the first big name to agree to appear. “All I can say is that we were asked and said ‘yes’ immediately,” he reports.

King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill and his wife Julie, who live on the New Jersey coast, lost their home and all their possessions when the storm struck. Gaskill, who suffered a heart attack in February, was set to record tracks for his solo album later this month. His friends have set up a help fund – email manager Ed Frost for more information.

Van Halen singer David Lee Roth has dedicated his new solo track, One Piece Thermo-Molded Country Plastic Chair, to the victims of Sandy. They include his VH replacement Sammy Hagar, who lost his Atlantic City bar.