Amazon plans Bob Dylan, Norah Jones concert

updated 6:44 p.m. ET June 15, 2005

SEATTLE - Amazon.com Inc. is planning a concert featuring music legend Bob Dylan and sultry songstress Norah Jones to celebrate its 10th anniversary next month.

The concert will be streamed live on the Internet retailer's home page the evening of July 16 — 10 years after Chairman and CEO Jeff Bezos officially launched the virtual bookstore.

Acerbic comedian Bill Maher will serve as host for the actual concert at Benaroya Hall. Maher, of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," is author of the upcoming book "New Rules: Polite Musings of a Timid Observer."

Amazon's Seattle-area employees will be invited to attend. Tickets will not be sold to the general public.

While no other names were disclosed, Amazon said the concert will feature additional musical performances, readings by authors and behind-the-scenes footage from "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," one of Amazon's hottest-selling DVDs.

The Seattle-based e-commerce juggernaut said musicians, authors and filmmakers were picked based on their popularity with Amazon customers over the past 10 years.

Bezos started Amazon.com out of his garage in 1994, at first offering only books. The company launched on the Internet a year later.

In 2004, it posted nearly $7 billion in revenue and its second profitable year selling everything from tools, makeup and gardening supplies to Maine lobsters, cameras and loose diamonds.

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