Hear Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt and More Play Madison Square Garden in 1979
Hear one of many "No Nukes Concerts" that were staged following Three Mile Island in 1979
Image via Getty Images/Keystone Music Features Graham Nash
Nearly a decade before the Chernobyl disaster rocked the Ukraine, a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania underwent a partial meltdown in 1979. It’s still considered the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history.
A few months after the incident in March, artists like Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Harvey Wasserman and John Hall collaborated to form Musicians United for Safe Energy, an organization that sought to bring awareness to energy alternatives and protest nuclear energy. In September 1979, they staged the “No Nukes Concerts,” as they’re commonly remembered, across New York City. On this day (Sept. 19) of that year, Nash, Raitt, Hall and more gathered at Madison Square Garden for a massive concert. It’s actually quite the memorable array of sets, featuring Nash doing CSN&Y favorites like “Our House,” Raitt singing John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” and the Doobie Brothers performing hits like “What a Fool Believes.”
Listen to this memorable Madison Square Garden show below, featuring sets by Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash, John Hall and the Doobie Brothers respectively.