Updated: 9:00 p.m. ET
Music filled New York's Madison Square Garden Wednesday night for the "12-12-12" gig all in the name of helping superstorm Sandy victims.
Bruce Springsteen kicked off the star-studded concert, a fitting start for the benefit, which will aid hard-hit storm areas such as the rocker's native New Jersey. The Boss launched into "Land of Hope and Dreams" as audience members rose to their feet, before singing "Wrecking Ball," a song he wrote about Jersey and Giants Stadium at The Meadowlands. He changed a lyric to "My home is on the Jersey shore."
And it's no surprise Springsteen performed "My City of Ruins," a song that has taken on various meanings through the years, especially having debuted around the 9/11 attacks. But Wednesday night, it meant something different to many people watching.
"This was a song I wrote for my adopted hometown -- Asbury Park, which was struggling through hard times," he said, later adding, "Tonight this is a prayer for all of our struggling people in New York and New Jersey."
After slipping in a few lines of "Jersey Girl," Springsteen brought out his friend Jon Bon Jovi for a New Jersey-rocker musical mash-up of "Born to Run."
"The size of the destruction was shocking," said Springsteen in a taped interview with concert organizers prior to the show. "It took days and days to even understand the level of destruction that occurred along the Jersey shore."
After Springsteen and Bon Jovi left the stage, Billy Crystal took the reins, injecting some humor into the night, mixed with touching remarks about the devastation that Sandy brought along with it.
"You can feel the electricity in the building, which means that Long Island power isn't involved," said Crystal, a Long Beach, Long Island, native, before rattling off a series of other jokes that took jabs at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Chris Christie.
Roger Waters took the stage next, playing Pink Floyd classics, including "Us and Them," "Another Brick in the Wall" and "Money." Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder took the stage to join Waters for a collaboration of "Comfortably Numb."
Adam Sandler performed a very different version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," swapping lyrics out for the occasion, singing: "Halleluja/Sandy screw ya/We'll get through ya."
Actress Kristen Stewart introduced Bon Jovi before the band got its set started with "It's My Life" before launching into "Wanted Dead or Alive."
Producer John Sykes said the fundraiser features "the greatest lineup of legends ever assembled on a stage."
"There have been hurricanes, there have been storms," said Bon Jovi before the show. "But I've never seen anything remotely close to what Hurricane Sandy was."
"When I heard there was going to be a concert, I wanted to be there and I wanted to try to do my bit," said McCartney who has an office in Manhattan and spends time with his wife, Nancy Shevell, in Long Island. "Hopefully try to make a bit of difference and give back."
Also in attendance? Steve Buscemi, Martha Stewart, Blake Lively, Scarlett Johansson, James Gandolfini, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremey Piven, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Chastain, Chelsea Clinton, Jimmy Fallon, Adam Sandler, Sean Combs, Billy Crystal, Leo DiCaprio, Jimmy Fallon, Katie Holmes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Karlie Kloss, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Susan Sarandon, Jon Stewart, Kristen Stewart and Quentin Tarantino, among others.
Sarandon was one of the stars answering calls at the evening's telethon.
"It's so moving every time you see a grassroots movement," Sarandon said backstage in the press room. "It's just great that people found a way to come out."
The sold-out "12-12-12" concert is being aired on 37 TV stations in the United States and more than 200 others worldwide. Thirty websites are streaming the show live. All together -- more than two billion people around the world have access to the show, which benefits the Robin Hood Foundation.
The October storm left millions of people in several states without power or heat. It's to blame for at least 125 deaths and damaged 305,000 homes in New York.
Watch live online here.
Bruce Springsteen kicks off Sandy benefit
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Bruce Springsteen kicks off Sandy benefit
