Benefit Concerts raise at least dlrs 17 million; more likely to be raised

<br>NEW YORK (AP) _ Organizers of the weekend's three all-star benefit concerts say they should know by the end of this week how much money was raised for the terrorist attacks' victims. So far,

Tuesday, October 23rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Organizers of the weekend's three all-star benefit concerts say they should know by the end of this week how much money was raised for the terrorist attacks' victims. So far, the rough total is dlrs 17 million.

The take from ticket sales, sponsorships, online contributions and auctions, telephone pledges and sales of merchandise all needs to be added up, organizers said.

Already, the Concert for New York at Madison Square Garden, which featured Paul McCartney, the Who, Billy Joel and Elton John among others, raised at least dlrs 14 million in ticket sales. That's despite more than 5,000 tickets being given away to firefighters, policemen and rescue workers involved in the World Trade Center disaster. Tickets for the event ranged from dlrs 200 to dlrs 5,000.

The United We Stand concert in Washington, where the Pentagon was attacked, raised about dlrs 3 million from ticket sales. Tickets for that event, which featured Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Sean ``P. Diddy'' Combs, the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, were priced from dlrs 25 to dlrs 75.

Ticket sales figures were unavailable Monday for the Nashville charity concert, which featured Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood and others. Prices for that concert ranged from dlrs 25 to dlrs 1,000.

In addition, the New York event featured an eBay auction of rock 'n' roll memorabilia, and a CD and DVD from the event will sold later, with much of those proceeds going to charity.