Roll out the green carpet: KC activist-turned-global performer readies for his 1,000th clean energy show

AY Young is counting down to music history, he shared.

After an almost 13-year journey through 100 cities and 40 countries, the singer, songwriter, activist, and entrepreneur has 41 shows remaining until his Guinness World recording-breaking 1,000th show powered solely by clean energy.

He’s planning to hit the milestone Oct. 6, 2025: Green Sports Day.

AY Young performs in New York City’s Times Square; courtesy photo

“I’ve been on the mission of getting the world plugged in,” Young said. “Everyone in the world is an outlet for change and plugged into each other — at the local level, the community level — we can power change.”

The Kansas City native and United Nations Young Leader founded his startup, Battery Tour, in 2012 as a platform to perform, while also sending sustainable solutions (such as portable solar-powered generators) to people around the world. 

“I’ve brought energy to 18 countries and there’s still, what, 900 million people who don’t have power?” he explained. “Even in Florida, part of my team is helping bring power to people that lost it during the hurricane.”

“If you have power, you can have access to the internet, you can give people education, and then you can really change the world,” he added.

For Young — who will be performing Saturday at the Record Bar along with fellow KC rapper and entrepreneur The Popper — the road to 1,000 kicked off with show 958 in Times Square at Father Duffy Park during Climate Week NYC in September.

 

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“I’ve been bringing the world — every facet of humanity — together: government, individuals like Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, the Matt Damons of the world, the Billie Eilishes to Peter Gabriels, the companies like General Motors, BNP Paribas, Samsung, and in the NGOs that do the work,” he noted.

It’s important that the last 40-plus shows are bigger than the others, Young said, so for each show he plans to collaborate with a well-known artist who shares his commitment to the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals.

“We’re shooting a film with this; a movie for theaters called ‘1,000,’” he added. “We’re calling for artists to feature as anchor artists, any artist that cares about gender equality or good health and wellness or (affordable and clean) energy, any of the goals.”

Performance photo courtesy of AY Young

Although details are still in the works for the final, record-breaking show, Young aspires to have a packed Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg joining by video, Leonardo Dicaprio sharing a few words, Coldplay (which has performed a dozen clean energy shows) and Massive Attack (which just did its first) on stage, and climate activist/former Vice President Al Gore, former President Bill Clinton, and his mentor and environmentalist Paul Hawken in attendance, he shared.

“It needs to be a moment,” he continued, “a green carpet, not a red carpet.”

Project 17

After being appointed one of the United Nations’ 17 Young Leaders in 2020, Young discovered the organization’s 17 sustainable development goals, he said.

“I decided to do what I always do — music for impact — make a music project to achieve the goals,” he explained.

Click here to check out the UN’s 17 sustainability goals.

For the past four years, Young continued, he has been writing a song for each of the 17 goals, teaming up with 17 well-known artists to collaborate on the song for a goal they are passionate about, recruiting 17 sponsors, and finding 17 global organizations that align with the goals to receive the profits.

AY Young signs autographs — including shoes — for young fans; courtesy photo

Performance photo courtesy of AY Young

He’s hoping to drop the Project 17 album and announce the tour around his 1,000th show.

“A lot of people are saying it’s like 17 ‘We Are The World’s,” he noted. “But I think it’s bigger than ‘We Are The World’ because we’re not just one song, one issue.”

“We’re lining up athletes, actors, government leaders, C-suite executives, YouTubers, Tiktokers, Twitchers, the whole thing,” he added.

According to Young, musical artists who have already signed on include KC’s Tech N9ne, the Head and the Heart, Krizz Kaliko, and Anushka Sen, who Young calls the Taylor Swift of India.

“I think this will be the biggest music impact project of all time or at least of the last 30 years,” he said.

“If you want to achieve the sustainable development goals and if you want to really make a difference, we’re looking for people or companies or organizations that are serious about that to join Project 17.”